Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low: 70-73. Wind: SE 5-10 mph.

Saturday: Partly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers/storms. High: 84-82. Wind: S to NW 10-15 mph.

Saturday Night: Decreasing clouds. Low: 58-62. Wind: NW 5-15 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. High: near 80.

Monday: Mostly sunny. High: low 80s.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 80s.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High: mid 80s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 80s.

Friday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 80s.

It was another hot day with temperatures in the 90s. Counting today here is the number of days the high temperatures were 90+:

Waterloo: 32
Dubuque: 23
Cedar Rapids: 30
Iowa City: 36

Also with no rain today, there have been no changes to the counties under a burn ban.

Click here for more information on the burn bans.

Tonight will be warm with a partly cloudy sky as we wait for the cold front that is located in South Dakota this afternoon. The front will track across Iowa Saturday with a chance of showers/storms. Showers/storms can be expected any time during the day. There is a little better chance of the showers/storms in the afternoon. Here is the forecast position of the cold front at 1 pm Saturday.

Ahead of the front the atmosphere will be unstable enough that there is a risk of severe storms. The main threat would be large hail and high wind. As you can see by the map (below right) there is a better chance of severe storms east of Iowa but again we have a chance here as well.

Now the big question is how much rain will this bring? Well, as with any time we have storms there will be a wide range. It is just the nature of the beast. On average rain amounts will be less than 0.50”.  Thunderstorms will drop heavier amounts of rain. Here is the rain forecast from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Keep in mind the only chance of rain will be Saturday. Sunday will be dry, cooler and less humid.

If you do not get rain from the front Saturday you might be out of luck for another week. Next week looks dry with highs warming from the low 80s early in the week to the upper 80s by the end of the week. Wow we can go a whole week with highs not exceeding 90 degrees…that will be a nice break.

Posted under Fire, Forecast Discussion