Tonight:  Clear and warm. Low: 66-67. Wind: SW 5-10 mph.

Friday: Partly cloudy and hot.  High: 89-93. Wind: S 5 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy and warm. Low: 67-70. Wind: E 5-10 mph.

Saturday: Partly cloudy with 20% chance of showers south and east of Waterloo. High: low-mid 80s

Sunday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 80s.

Monday: Partly cloudy. High: mid-upper 80s.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny. High: low-mid 80s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers/storms. High: low 80s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 70s.

It has been a hot and in some locations humid day. The locations that were hot with temperatures in the 90s had low humidity. The locations that stayed in the 80s had high humidity. Dry air heats up easier than humid air. Here are the 3 pm temperatures and dewpionts you can see what I mentioned above on the maps below.

I will post the highs and if any records were broken across the state later this evening after the temperatures begin to fall.

A cold front is slowly drifting south and approaching NW Iowa. Temperatures ahead of it are mainly in the 90s and behind it in the 70s and low 80s. The front will stall across Iowa Friday with temperatures a little cooler in some locations. Upper 80s across northern Iowa can be expected while southern Iowa will be in the low 90s. Here is forecast position of the front Friday evening.
Isaac has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is located in northern Louisiana. Numerous computer models have the storm tracking north into Missouri and then turning right (east) toward St. Louis. The map below shows the computer model tracks.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has the official forecast doing the same thing through the weekend. Here is the NHC track.

This track still puts us on the far northern extent of the rain. There will be a chance of showers across southeast Iowa Saturday. Areas south and east of Waterloo have a chance of showers. The best chance of showers will be south and east of Iowa City. Here is the rain forecast from Isaac.

It would have been nice to see more rain here in Iowa because we are still in a world of hurt when it comes to the drought. The updated Drought Monitor was released this morning. Everyone is still in a severe drought but there is a slight improvement in areas with extreme drought. The extreme drought areas (percentage wise) went from 68% of Iowa last week to 58% this week.

As the remnants of Isaac move east, Sunday through Tuesday will be dry with highs in the mid-upper 80s. A cold front passing through the state on Wednesday could bring a shower/storm with it but there might be little moisture to work with so the chance of rain is low. Behind the front, cooler air will move south and by Thursday next week highs will be in the upper 70s.

High School Football Forecast (Friday):
Partly cloudy. Kickoff temp: mid 80s. Wind: calm

College Football Forecast (Saturday)

Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (Chicago, IL): Mostly cloudy with a 50% chance of rain. Kickoff Temp: near 80. Wind: E 10-15 mph.

Iowa State vs. Tulsa (Ames): Partly cloudy. Kickoff Temp: upper 80s. Wind: E 10-15 mph.

UNI vs. Wisconsin (Madison, WI): Mostly sunny. Kickoff Temp: low 80s. Wind: E 5-10 mph.

Posted under Drought, Forecast Discussion, Sports