There is a slight risk for Severe Weather on Wednesday for NW Iowa mainly Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Clay, O’Brien and Sioux Counties. This would include the Iowa Lakes region and the city of Spencer. This is along a warm front that is forecast to move north of Iowa later in the day. Storms will fire in the Dakotas and move East-Southeast into Iowa as they begin to decay. The main threats would be large hail and damaging winds. The pattern will continue for the next few days with most of the severe weather confined north of Iowa until possibly Thursday night or Friday when a complex of thunderstorms may roll into Iowa from the NW. Otherwise the state will begin to feel the effects of the ridge that has been baking the southern plains over the last few weeks. Temperatures later this week and into the weekend will be the warmest of the year so far with some places in the state nearing 100 by the weekend.