Better Than Last Week – Iowa Weather Network Archives

SCATTERED ACTIVITY: The rest of this week will remain seasonal for temperatures across the state with some chances of showers and thunderstorms. This won’t be each day and not in one place, but there will be a chance through at least Friday across the state. Outside those chances, skies will be partly to mostly sunny with readings in the lower and middle 80s with heat indices likely getting no higher than the lower 90s any day this coming week. Any storms that develop could become strong but severe weather isn’t likely on a widespread scale, this doesn’t mean there can’t be one or two severe storms. The chance is there nevertheless.

LEADING INTO AUGUST: Winds turn southerly as we head toward the weekend and into the first of August with another chance of showers and storms with the best chances likely occurring during the overnight hours Saturday night into Sunday and again Sunday night into Monday. There is some uncertainty as to whether this could occur or not, so confidence isn’t too high at this point. Readings will be in the 80s across the state.

HEATING INTO AUGUST: As we head into August, the GFS is showing the oven turning itself back on over the state once again. Readings are shown to be back into the 90s across the state with heat indices possibly getting up above 100 once again. It also looks to be mainly dry with any chances of precipitation staying just north of the state, although we can’t rule out any storm possibly make its way into the state during the overnight hours. The model is also showing that this looks to last longer than the heat wave last week as it could last at least 4-5 days during the first week of August. We’ll have to watch model trends to see if this continues or if we see changes upcoming.

FURTHER ALONG: Looking further into the month of August, a cold front is shown to move into the state next Friday that could end the possible heat wave across the state. Thereafter readings are shown to be closer to seasonal levels in the lower and middle 80s with lower humidity levels. Toward the end of the model period which happens to be right before State Fair is to begin in Des Moines, the heat looks set to return with a chance of showers and storms on the periphery of the ridge that will be moving in from the west. This will be another thing to watch as well in the coming weeks.