[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUFUqGkZcJE&hl=en&fs=1]

SEVERE WX: There is a slight risk of severe weather for today and tonight for areas SE of a line from Guttenberg to Lamoni. The main threats look to be large hail and damaging winds, but a tornado cannot be ruled out. This is all dependent on if the cap (CINH) breaks. There will be a strong capping layer across the slight risk area for much of the day. CAPE values of 750-1250 J/kg will be moving in from the south with higher values over 2000 J/kg in Missouri. Any storms that do break the cap will likely become severe quickly. The time frame for the storms looks to be between 3-9pm across the southeastern counties. By 9pm the cold front will be exiting or have exited the state taking the severe weather chances with it into Illinois.

ELSEWHERE: The rest of the week will be rather tranquil with only a chance of a shower or storm Thursday with a disturbance moving through and then again by the weekend, which may bring another round of severe weather to the state. We’ll have to keep our eyes on that one as the days progress.

FLOODING: The Upper Des Moines River Valley, the Big Sioux River and the Mississippi Rivers continue under river flood warnings. The Mississippi River will likely remain under river flood warnings for the rest of April and possibly into May. Any heavy rain over the next 1-2 weeks will prolong flooding concerns on area rivers, even those that aren’t flooding but are high.