Iowa Weather Report April 19th 2015: I’m Out Here In The Rain, And I don’t know Why?!

COLD WEEK AHEAD: More chances of rain are possible today as a cold front will sweep across the state. A few rumbles of thunder cannot be ruled out. Highs today will be in the 60s for the most part with mostly cloudy skies around outside the chances of rain. Colder air will move in to begin the new work week and this will lead to readings on Monday to be in the 50s to near 60. Far northern Iowa may not make it out of the upper 40s. There will be some sunshine mainly across the southern and western counties of the state with more clouds further to the north and east. Some isolated chances of showers are possible as well. Tuesday and Wednesday will see more sunshine across the state but readings will still be in the 50s to near 60. Lows each night will be in the lower and middle 30s which my lead to some frost, especially in low lying areas. The rest of the week looks rather dry as temperatures begin to slowly rebound. Another system will move across the southern counties of the state on Saturday that may bring some showers down there. The best chances of seeing precipitation however look to remain south of the state.

MOVING INTO MAY: Looking into the extended period, cold air looks to continue as we end the month of April. A disturbance looks to move in from the north and could bring us some precipitation late on the 27th into early on the 28th. Current thinking would suggest that the precipitation would mainly be in the form of rain, however some sleet could be mixed in if surface temperatures are close to the freezing mark. Nevertheless this will not be a big issue, but we’ll watch to see if that changes. Even as we flip the calendar to May and the temperatures look to warm back to seasonal levels, the GFS on this run is showing a lack of precipitation during the period with most of the systems skirting to the south of the state, outside a slight chance of some rain on the 3rd of May with a cold front. This is not a good sign as more rain will be needed as we head into the beginning of the growing season. This will be good for farmers to get out and plant over the next week or two, but the rains will need to come thereafter in due time.