Smattering of Sun and Rain – Iowa Weather Network Archives

A LITTLE BIT OF RAIN: Before we get to the chances of precipitation, we will have another day of partly to mostly sunny skies for most of us today. Highs will be in the 80s. The exception to this is in our northwestern counties where chances of showers and storms will be on the increase during the day. There still may be some sunshine, but the chances are a lot less than the rest of the state. Speaking of the rest of the state, they’ll be getting in on the shower and storm chances as we head into tonight through Thursday and perhaps even into early on Friday. It will not be all day rains as there will be some breaks during the morning through the mid-afternoon hours before showers and thunderstorms redevelop in the afternoon and evening. Some of the storms could be strong, but any widespread severe weather chances look rather low at this time.

WEEKEND: As we head into the weekend, the chances of showers and storms decrease but do not totally go away. There will be some sunshine around the state with highs in the upper 70s to the middle 80s across the state. A warm front looks to move across the state late Sunday which could trigger an increase in showers and storms at that time. It looks to also bring much warmer air as we head into the month of August.

AUGUST HEAT WAVE: Looking at next week, the heat looks to come back with vengeance as readings are looking to head back into the 90s with heat indices likely exceeding 100+° once again. It will stay dry with mainly sunny skies around with only a few clouds from time to time. This looks to last until Thursday when a cold front sinks southeastward into the state with some showers and thunderstorms. The cold front is shown to drop readings back into the 80s and lower the humidity levels to a comfortable level as well. This heat wave is going to be monitored for any changes to strength and or longevity in the coming days. Stay tuned.

TOWARD STATE FAIR: As we look further into August, the heat which looks to move to the east away from the state the middle to end of next week will begin to build back to the west of the state as we look toward the 7th, but doesn’t get too close to the state. The GFS shows mainly dry conditions during the period with readings close to seasonal levels. A first look at the opening day of the Iowa State Fair would indicate dry weather with readings in the middle 80s and comfortable dew points. We’ll wait and see if it continues in coming models.