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UPDATED at 4:10 PM

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low: 27-31. Wind: SW 5-15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny and windy.  High: 41-47 around noon….falling temps in the PM. Wind: W/NW 15-30 mph…gusts to 45 mph

Saturday Night: Increasing clouds, windy and colder. Low: 3-7. Wind: NW 15-25 mph. Wind Chill: 10-25 below zero.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy and cold with a 20% chance of light snow/flurries. High: teens.

Monday: Partly cloudy and very cold. High: single digits.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy and very cold. High: single digits.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High: low 20s.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of rain/snow. High: low 30s.

Friday: Mostly cloudy and windy (NW 15-25 mph). High: mid 20s.

The wind was strong today from the southwest with gusts to 40 mph. High temperatures were in the upper 40s and low 50s. A few locations came a few degrees shy of records. I will post the graphic with the numbers here later this afternoon after the official highs are released.

Graphic coming

There is going to be such a big change in temperature from this afternoon to Saturday evening. We are tracking a cold front and it is still forecast to cross Iowa from north to south during the early-mid afternoon hours. Here is the forecast position of the cold front at noon Saturday.

Once the front moves through, early-mid afternoon, the temperatures will drop quickly. Here is an example how fast the temperatures will drop for Waterloo. All other locations will see the temperatures drop that fast as well.

From when the frotn crosses your area through midnight Saturday the wind will be strong from the W/NW at 15-30 mph with gusts as high as 45 mph. Keep in mind the wind will be strong as the temperatures drop.

Sunday will be much colder with a slight chance of a light snow shower or flurries. No accumulation is expected. Monday and Tuesday will be the coldest days of the next seven with highs only in the single digits. Monday morning and Tuesday morning will have lows below zero and wind chills as cold as 15-25 below zero. I would expect the National Weather Service will be issuing a Wind Chill Advisory for the early part of next week.

If you think it will be cold here take a look at the map below (WSI RPM Model). This shows that the REALLY COLD air will be north of Iowa with temperatures in the 20s below zero.

Our cold weather will only linger through Tuesday. By Wednesday, the high temperatures will warm back into the 20s and low 30s by Thursday. At that time we will be tracking the potential for rain/snow.

Posted under Forecast Discussion

From NWS
1996: A strong low pressure system moved across northeastern Iowa and into southeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin, pulling behind it a very sharp cold front with temperatures falling rapidly across the area during the afternoon and evening. At Guttenberg the temperature rose to 54 F in the morning then plunged to 2 F by midnight, while at New Hampton the temperature fell from 52 F to -1 F during the same time frame. The temperature drop was most marked at Oelwein, falling from 50 F to -9 F resulting in a 59 degree change in less than 24 hours. Snow fell behind the low pressure system during the evening and nighttime hours with storm totals including 7.0 inches at New Hampton and 6.0 inches at Postville. Strong winds blew the snow into deep drifts and reduced visibility to near zero at times.

18 January 1973 → A frail home was thrown 100 yards by the winds of an F2 tornado in Corey, LA. A young mother was killed, but her baby was carried 400 yards and received only minor injuries. 18 January 1978 → The Hartford Coliseum in Connecticut was empty when its roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow and ice just hours after a basketball game had finished. 18 January 1999 → An F4 tornado with a 75 mile long path killed 25 people as it ripped across Mount Ayliff, South Africa. It is Africa’s deadliest tornado. 18 January 2007 → A particularly intense storm system, named Kyrill, swept from the British Isles into northern Europe. Winds gusted to 125 mph in Germany and 132 mph in the Czech Republic. Several tornadoes were spawned as well, including an F3 that struck Lauchhammer, Germany south of Berlin.

Posted under Weather History