Quiet before a February Fury Sunday – Iowa Weather Network Archives

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NICE TODAY, CHANGES COMING: It will be a nice day across the state with some sunshine coming in as the day progresses after some possible morning fog in our northeastern counties Highs today will range from the 30s north to the lower 40s south. We will see another warm day on Sunday ahead of a system that will be dropping in from the northwest. This will bring us a chance of some snow across our northern counties by the afternoon hours (we may see a rain snow mix across the eastern counties as well). This will pick up as we head into Sunday night and Monday with winds becoming the main storyline. Winds may gust well over 40mph Sunday night into Monday which would cause some whiteout conditions to be possible and may cause some hazardous conditions on roads. This is why a Blizzard watch is in effect across the north-central and parts of northwest Iowa Sunday afternoon into Monday. Accumulations of snow are expected to be around an inch or two. Highs on Sunday will be similar to today with 30s north and lower 40s south but those will take a tumble into the teens and 20s with lows into the single digits and teens by the middle of next week.

BATTLEGROUND: The state is looking to be square in the middle of a battle between the cold air to our north and northeast and the warmer air that will be taking over the west and southern and central Plains. Depending on where the line is drawn could have some effects on temperatures across the state. Current thinking suggests that we’ll be on the cool side for most of the state except perhaps the far southwestern counties where temperatures may be at or slightly above seasonal levels through next week. The GFS does show a few disturbances moving through the state, one Wednesday night with a slight chance of some flurries or snow showers and another one Friday that could skirt our northeastern counties with some snow. Outside those chances the weather looks rather benign and cool with no big events approaching.

OVER THE HORIZON: Looking into the extended period, the GFS still is showing a system around Valentine’s Day into the 15th that may bring quite a bit of precipitation to the state. According to the model, most of the precipitation looks to be in the form of rain and not snow as temperatures are shown to warm well into the 30s and 40s. Keep in mind this is just over a week out and this is not a forecast, however we will continue to monitor this system over the coming days as it draws closer. Further along, the model shows another clipper system coming down toward the end of the period with some chance of snow at that time. It is a wait and see that far out but something to continue looking at over the coming days nonetheless.