Iowa Weather Report May 19th 2015: Higher and Higher..We Hope

HEADING UP: Temperatures will still be well below seasonal levels today but we will see more sunshine across the state than on Monday. Highs today will be in the middle 50s north to the lower 60s in the south. Winds will be less than on Monday as well. Clouds will be in the increase as the next storm system will move in from the west. This will bring some showers late tonight into Wednesday. Rainfall amounts will be light with most areas seeing a quarter inch of rain or less. We don’t expect to have any rumbles of thunder with this system. Highs on Wednesday will be held down due to the clouds and rain activity around. Highs on Wednesday will generally be in the 50s. Looking toward the end of the week, sunshine will return and the temperatures will respond as well with 60s and 70s both Thursday and Friday.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND: Looking into the Memorial Day Weekend, another storm system will be approaching from the west and southwest. This will bring us some showers and thunderstorms mainly Sunday into Monday. We could see some isolated activity on Saturday, but most areas should remain dry. Temperatures will be warmer as well with 70s for the most part, however any extended sunshine could boost readings into the lower 80s in some areas. It’s too early to determine any possible risk of severe weather at this time. We’ll keep watching it however.

INTO SUMMER BLUES: As we look into the extended period, the system that will move through the area Memorial Day weekend is shown to stall just south of the state next Tuesday and Wednesday. This would cause more showers and thunderstorms to be possible at that time. A few more systems are seen as we look into the end of May and into the first part of June. Temperatures look to be close to seasonal levels at this point but this could change as we get closer to the time period. We still don’t see any big changes with regards to heat waves in the next two weeks.