Iowa Weather Report December 5th 2014: Where is Winter?

A FEW DISTURBANCES: There is a few slight chances of precipitation over the next couple of days. One of those chances will be today over the southern counties of the state. Any rainfall is expected to be light with only a tenth of an inch or so possible down there. The rest of the state will see mostly cloudy skies although far northwestern Iowa may see a bit more sunshine than the rest of the state. Readings today will be in the 30s. The only slight chance of seeing precipitation will be on Sunday with a cold front moving through the state. Anyway rainfall with this system will be light as well, although some areas may get by without any precipitation. Highs on Sunday will be in the 30s and 40s across the state. Looking over the rest of the time period through the middle of next week, it looks partly to mostly sunny with readings at or above seasonal levels outside the two days in question.

MORE WARMTH: As we head into the rest of next week, temperatures look to warm further with readings heading well into the 40s and even a few 50s possible across the state. The GFS is showing some precipitation possible as well, but those chances seem to be slim to none at this time. Even as we look into the extended period, the warmer than average weather looks to continue through the middle of the month and toward Christmas as well. The GFS is showing a few systems moving through the area bringing some precipitation (mainly in the form of rain or possible wintry mix) across the state. The trend has been over the last few days of this warmer than average weather pattern to continue and this run seems to agree with that assessment. However, the timing of these systems and their strength is still up in the air and we’re not confident with that as of yet.