LABOR DAY WEEKEND: As we head into the holiday weekend, we should see some early day showers pulling out of the state with partly to mostly sunny skies around for the rest of the day and most of Sunday as well. Readings today will be in the upper 70s to middle 80s with the warmest readings in the western and southern counties. Sunday we’ll see warmer temperatures as highs will head well into the 80s for most of us. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop later in the afternoon into the evening in NW Iowa or perhaps a bit farther west and roll through the state Sunday night into the Labor Day Monday. Some of the storms could be strong to severe with large hail and damaging winds being the main threats. Heavy rain will also be possible which may lead to some localized flooding in some areas.

THE REST OF THE WEEK: Cooler air will move into the state on Tuesday bringing readings back into the 70s to lower 80s with much lower humidity levels as well. This looks to be short lived as a warm front will move across the state Wednesday which could trigger an isolated shower or storm along it. Another batch of precipitation looks to come through the state on Thursday as well. There will be some dry periods and perhaps even some peaks of sunshine. Readings look to remain in the 70s and lower 80s during the period. The wet weather pattern looks to return late Friday into next weekend with a frontal system that may stall close to the state. It’s still too early to time out where that may set up but this run shows that it may be over the northern counties. This would lead to some showers and thunderstorms there with some locally heavy rainfall possible. Note that this could change and the slightest deviation north or south could drastically change the forecast.

INTO MID-MONTH: The GFS shows mainly a zonal flow as we head further into September with a few systems moving quickly across the state. However by the end of the period a large ridge is seen setting up over the eastern half or two-thirds of the country. This would mean warmer readings could be in store. The GFS is showing a front that is trying to slide in from the north but it may have a difficult time depending on how strong the ridge would be. This of course may go away on the next runs.

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