UPDATED at 4:30 PM

Tonight:  Decreasing clouds and much colder. Low: 27-32. Wind: NW 10-15 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny and chilly. High: 42-51. Wind: NW 10-15 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear. Low: 25-28. Wind: N 5-10 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. High: mid-upper 40s.

Sunday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 40s.

Monday: Partly cloudy. High: mid 40s.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. High: mid 40s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High: upper 40s.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High: upper 40s.

Temperatures have been falling all day behind the cold front. Rain and a few storms have brought us well needed rain in the last 24 hours. It was cold enough for light snow in northwest Iowa this morning. Here is a webcam image from the IDOT in Alton (Sioux County) that shows the light snow on the grass. Alton is located about 40 northeast of Sioux City .

To cold front that has brought the cold air, strong wind and showers/storms is now just east of Iowa. As I type this the showers are right along the Mississippi River. They will continue to move east and come to an end by the time the sun sets…if not sooner. Here is the position of the cold front this afternoon.
It was nice to have more rain and no severe weather. We still need a lot of rain to end the drought we have going. Here is a link to the latest Drought Monitor issued this morning.

Here are the rain totals in the last 24 hours. Keep in mind some of the totals in far eastern Iowa will go up a little bit since the rain in the last few hours has not been added to this map below.
Another part of the storm has been the strong wind and the much colder air. Temperatures this morning were in the 60s and 70s. The front came through and now this afternoon we are in the 30s and 40s with a wind chill in the 20s. That is a quick drop in temperature. Here is the 24 hour temperature change as of 3 pm. Keep in mind Dubuque tied a record high of 78 yesterday.
Our weather will be dry and chilly Saturday through the middle of next week as high pressure gets stuck in the middle of the country. The reason for it getting stuck is there is a hurricane in the western Atlantic. Hurricane Sandy will move north just off the east coast until early next week when an upper level trough will pull it west into New England. There will be no big changes in our weather until the coastal storm turns northeast after it comes ashore early next week. Here is the forecast position of the storm Tuesday morning.
 

College Football Forecast (Saturday) 

Iowa vs. Northwestern (Evanston, IL)
Mostly sunny
Kickoff Temp: 40s

Illinois State vs. UNI (Cedar Falls)
Mostly sunny
Kickoff Temp: 40s

Baylor vs. Iowa State (Ames)
Mostly Sunny
Kickoff Temp: 40s