[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5SQtWYGvVw&w=640&h=480]

A QUIET WARMING: The weather is going to be fairly benign across the state for the rest of this week before a storm may move through with some rain and snow possible this weekend. Up to that time, temperatures will be rebounding slowly toward and above seasonal averages for this time of year. Readings today will be held down in the 20s and 30s. Coolest up north with the light snow pack on the ground in northern Iowa to nothing over the south.

RAINY SNOWY PRECIPY: Any precipitation right now will be helpful with the ongoing drought and we could get some Saturday, but what type of precipitation it will be for what part of the state you’re in could be the challenge. Right now it looks like it will be mainly rain for areas southeast of an Omaha to Fort Dodge to Decorah line, with areas to the NW seeing a mix and some snow. This doesn’t mean that it won’t snow southeast of that line either. We will be able to fine tune this as we get closer. Amounts will be light but a bit more substantial than this last storm that seemingly missed the state and dumped all the snow on MN.

IT’S THAT TIME: Christmas time is here, as the first line of the song to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation goes, but the models aren’t really showing much of a trend two weeks out from the holiday. GFS is showing some big pushes of much colder air to the state, but if we don’t have any substantial snow pack on the ground, we would likely see readings in the teens and lower 20s for highs and lows around 0. Any snow would drop those readings by ten or more degrees at least.