Iowa Halloween Forecast

Missed out on the beggar's night forecast as I've been quite busy with homework and a test this week that is upcoming tomorrow. But, I can't miss out on the forecast for Halloween! Everybody is finishing up the costumes for the big night here in Ames, several costume parties all over campustown and I'm sure its' the same for many of the college towns around the state.

As for the forecast, tomorrow during the day we will see temperatures steady in the morning as a cold front moves through, allowing for temperatures to slightly decrease throughout the day tomorrow. Highs therefore will likely come in the morning to early afternoon for most areas in the state. Mid 50s for northwest Iowa to the lower 60s in southeast Iowa where the cold front won't make it through until early afternoon. As the sun sets and people begin to make their way out into the night, temperatures look to range from the mid 40s in northwest Iowa to near 50 in southeast Iowa. Winds from the northwest at 10-15 mph may be a bit brisk at times and shouldn't decrease much into the night. Partly cloudy skies dominate and temperatures continue to fall as we near the midnight hour, mid 30s in the northwest will definitely feel chilly; mid 40s in the southeast portion of the state will be slightly warmer but still not quite as warm as most would like.

Luckily no rain expected to fall with the cold front passage, but it will definitely be felt by the temperatures. As it ends up, by the time the sun rises on Thursday you can expect plenty of frost over western half of the state. Lows end up bottoming out in the mid 20s to mid 30s from northwest to southeast. Hopefully on Thursday I can get another update up here for the end of the week and through the weekend!

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Des Moines Chemical Fire

Update: The fire had subsided by nightfall in Des Moines, although around two dozen fire fighters remained on scene to go through the area and put out any hot spots that remained. The fire was fed by several drums of chemical solvents, but the initial cause of the fire is currently unknown. Barton Solvents has supposedly had safety infractions at the Des Moines plant, earlier in the summer it had a major problem in Wichita, KS when nearly 6,000 people had to be evacuated.

I'm sure more information on the safety issue and the cause of the fire will be released as the investigation continues. They are also looking at possible effects of the fire and chemicals, testing in nearby ponds in the next couple days will make sure that nothing has made it into the water table.

For more information, check out some of the other local news stations such as the Des Moines Register and KCCI along with other TV stations in the Des Moines area.

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A large fire at a chemical solvents plant in northeast Des Moines is currently engulfed in flames and has been for nearly 3 hours. Several fire departments are on scene from as far away as past Polk county lines. They currently expect the fire to continue for several more hours...

Rush hour traffic should begin shortly and in which case several problems exist with portions of I-35, I-80 and I-235 in northeast Des Moines closed.

In the past, the KCCI radar has been able to pick up the large smoke plume coming from this fire. Currently it doesn't look to be viewable on the radar, but I'll post a link to this image below for you to view. For more of the latest, check out the KCCI webpage: http://www.kcci.com

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Not a Terrible Week Ahead...

It could be much worse anyway, with rain only forecasted for the last 48 hours or so of the week instead of Tuesday through Thursday or more like last week. Temperatures won't be above normal, but they shouldn't be far below normal either; mainly a nice fall week as we near Halloween!

Lows tonight may bring patchy frost to many of the low lying areas in the state, 30s expected across the board. A nice sunshiny day tomorrow, highs ranging from the lower 60s in the east to the mid 60s and a few upper 60s along the Missouri river. Tuesday night lows won't be quite as cold as tonights, leaving most areas without the risk of frost. Mid 30s to near 40 from north to south across the state...

Mid-week has highs just a few degrees cooler than previous days; ranging from around 60 to the mid 60s from east to west. Lows at night however look to hold into the mid 30s to lower 40s from north to south. Thursday looks to be much of the same with highs in the lower 60s to mid 60s from east to west, showers likely to be just south of the state as a large cutoff low slowly makes its' way north. This indicates that by Thursday night we should start to see some of those showers over a majority of the state. With current models having a hard time on placement, strength and timing of the system as a whole, only low chances of rain have been introduced. However, it does seem likely that sometime within the Thursday to Friday range we will see some rainfall over the state. Lows Thursday night will be warmer with the cloud cover overhead, lower to mid 40s for the most part. With possible showers and at least clouds hanging around for the day on Friday, expect it to be the coldest of the week. Highs ranging from the lower 50s in the northwest to the upper 50s in the southeast. It does look however that the rain should move out of the state before or during Friday night, leaving the weekend forecast looking dry!

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A Partially Dry Weekend...

After the days of rain and absolutely no sunshine over most of the state it was good to see the sun a little bit today and to at least have some dry surfaces. Yesterday finally had the low pressure system crossing over the state and taking the rain with it. Iowa managed to escape this powerful system which is responsible for at least 3 deaths and plenty of damage over the plains, only receiving heavy rain that prompted flood warnings. We did however manage to have some impressive pressure falls over the state, with several stations dropped down to near 980 millibars! My home station had a great drop through a 36 hour period where we went from 1010 mb down to 95 mb. On the backside of the low the strong pressure gradient contributed to some strong and gusty winds today, they will be much lighter tomorrow.

As for the forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend, lows tonight in the lower to mid 40s across the state. Partly cloudy skies will allow for great football weather, now only if the Cyclones could play at least decent football, then it would be a great day. Highs in the 70s across the state, from the lower end in the northeast to within a degree or two of 80 in the southwest. Saturday night will have showers through Nebraska and South Dakota, not quite affecting the state for the overnight hours. Lows from the mid 40s in the northwest to the mid 50s in the southeast.

By Sunday morning expect some showers to be into western Iowa, overtaking the central portion of the state by mid-afternoon. Sunday night will have showers over a vast majority of the state, maybe a few breaks for the northwest corner. However expect the clouds and isolated showers to continue into the work week next week. Highs during the day on Sunday will have a sharp contrast dependent on the front location and cloud layer. Mid 50s over northwest Iowa where sun will be hard to come by, central Iowa may see a few lower 60s by Noon before the clouds take over. The eastern and especially southeastern portions of the state may see sunshine for a majority of the day, thus highs in their region may reach well into the 70s. Lows overnight on Sunday will also be highly variable as cold air makes its' way into northwest Iowa; 30s will be likely up there. For the central and eastern thirds of the state, 40s should be a reasonable range with some clouds still hanging around.

Questions remain on how long the rain will hang around the state during the work week, either way some cold air is working in behind the system. Looks to have 30s for lows and highs in the 50s through at least mid-week... More details for that in later updates.

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Flooding Concerns

Much of the southern half of the state is currently under some type of a flood watch with rains continuing to move into the state. Rain is expected to continue over portions of the state into Thursday night, the ground is already saturated in most areas leading to quick run-off and thus flooding conditions coming quickly. Several river state gauges are already reporting near flooding or flooding conditions, they include the cities of Algona, Humboldt, Stratford, near Des Moines, Waterloo, Marengo, Marshalltown, Oskalooska and Hamburg. Many other cities that don't have gauges are reporting flooding and thus have flood warnings issued as well. A total of 15 counties across the state are under flood warnings, with nearly another three dozen under watches as the rains continue to fall.

Flooding should remain the top concern for the night and through the day tomorrow, without much sunshine it looks like our instability will remain fairly low and thus the severe weather threat limited. Most NWS offices and the SPC doesn't look to rule the threat completely out, but marginally severe hail and a few gusts near 60 mph could occur with any strong storms. These are likely to be few and far between...

Beyond Thursday night when the rains begin to subside we are looking at a fairly nice weekend for Friday and Saturday. Sunday should be okay as well, although a few mentions of showers for Sunday night are creeping into the forecast. More details on the weekend forecast and a tally of the rainfall amounts once this storm system has moved on past the state...

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Rain, Rain, It's Not Going Away!

Or at least its' not going to until this weekend, which for most of the people in Iowa is all they are going to ask for! For the third weekend in a row on Sunday it rained and rained over a majority of the state. The rain has continued throughout the day today, with cloudy and misty conditions prevailing otherwise. Currently a band of light rain over eastern Iowa, some scattered showers over central Iowa and some moderate showers over northwest Iowa as well. This rain should continue over much of the state, especially the northern two-thirds. Lows tonight with cloud cover and mist/fog conditions should range from the mid 40s in northwest Iowa the the lower 50s over much of eastern Iowa.

Expect the rain to move out of the state for the most part by tomorrow afternoon, northern Iowa and especially northeast Iowa will see lingering showers in the morning. Highs from the mid 50s in northwest Iowa to the mid 60s in southeast Iowa; around 60 for all the places in between. Tuesday night will probably hold the only 12 hour stretch where there is not rain over some portion of the state. Lows during this 'dry' period in the mid to upper 40s across the entire state.

This dry period doesn't last long with showers & thunderstorms moving into the western and south-central portions of the state by the afternoon. Overspreading the entire state by nightfall on Wednesday and should continue for a majority of the state into Thursday. By Thursday night the showers should continue to move off with the low pressure system, leaving only the northeastern half of the state with lingering precip. Clouds and some sprinkles may continue to stick around the area for Friday as well, before finally clearing off and becoming dry in time for the weekend. As for temperatures during the latter half of the week, highs on Wednesday & Thursday will see near 60 in northwest to the lower 70s in the southeast. Lows in the lower and mid 50s on Wednesday night; mid to upper 40s for Thursday night. Friday won't be bad at all to begin the weekend, lower 60s for the northern third with mid and some upper 60s for the rest of the state.

The thunderstorms that are possible on Wednesday & Thursday are not currently outlooked for severe weather, however some areas in the vicinity of the state are. Thus later updates may call for the threat of severe weather as dependent on path of the next system...

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Iowa State & Iowa Football Game Weather

Check out the latest radar and satellite images off of the Iowa Chaser webpage to view how the weather is treating the two college teams in their battles against top 25 opponents. Iowa State takes on #23 ranked Texas and Iowa takes on #18 ranked Illinois, kickoffs are around 11:30 and Noon respectively...

The latest radar/satellite below is linked to the webpage where you can loop or just view the latest image. The two stadiums are highlighted by the football! Rain expected to enter Ames by 1 PM, the same goes for Iowa City. Could be a slippery second half for both teams that are being featured on national TV. Check out Iowa State on Fox Sports Net, watch Iowa on ESPN2.

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Likely Wet Weekend

Tomorrow is finally Friday! With that comes a nice day that is just waiting for you to enter as you begin the weekend and you better get your fill of it then as the remainder of your weekend may have rain. After lows tonight from the mid 40s to mid 30s from the southwest to northeast, the sun will shine during the day tomorrow. Temperatures may vary greatly as the western third gets in on some nice warm air advection, leaving highs in the mid 60s along the Missouri River. Other areas of the state should stick in the mid 50s to the upper 50s in the eastern and central third respectively. Friday night should hold the rain/thunderstorms just to the south and west of the state. Lows in the upper 30s over northeast Iowa, near 40 over the central and southeast and the mid 40s over much of the northwest and southwest, a few near 50 marks in the southwest are also possible if cloud cover is present.

Saturday afternoon may be able to hold off the rain for a majority, allowing temperatures to warm into the lower to mid 60s over the state. The Missouri River area will likely see showers heading in by sunset and overtaking much of western Iowa by midnight. By sunrise on Sunday expect showers over central Iowa and lingering precip left over western Iowa. Lows during the overnight on Saturday in the upper 40s over eastern Iowa, lower 50s over the remainder where cloud cover and showers are in place. Sunday should be filled with showers across the majority of the state, the southeast has the lowest chances. The continued showers will be due to the warm front that will be pushing over the southern third during the day. Thus despite the clouds/rain high temperatures will make it into the upper 60s for the southern third. Upper 50s to near 60 are still likely over the remainder, a bit chilly with the rain falling. This front is likely to become stationary and hover along the Iowa/Missouri border, keeping rain likely over nearly the entire state. Lows in the mid 40s to lower 50s from north to south over the state...

Rain may possibly stick around for the early part of the work week as well, but clearing skies and a warm up may be in store by mid-week. This will set us up for the next large system to come in and may put us at risk of some more fall severe weather. More of those details in later updates after this weekend...

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Dry Until the Weekend

After the cold front passed through yesterday the skies have cleared off nicely and temperatures have leveled off to more of a normal fall day. Another cold front currently just to the north of the state will reinforce the cooler air and bring temperatures down to even below normal for a few days this week. Luckily for most farmers and others that just don't want it, rain isn't expected from this cold frontal passage. Some occasional cloud cover will be about the most you can get from this one when it passes through Iowa at least, further to the north where there is some more help for precipitation they are looking at rain/snow mixes in northern Minnesota. Iowa doesn't look to be seeing any type of snow in the forecast, we'll hold off on that for a while!

Highs today in the mid 70s to the southern third of the state, upper 60s over the northern third as the cold front slowly sags to the south overtaking some of the northern counties. Tonights' lows will be influenced by this next shot of cold air, mid 40s in the south to the upper 30s in the northern sections. The cold front should pass through by Wednesday, leaving the entire state behind in a pool of below normal temperatures. Highs struggling to reach 60 in the southwest part of the state, mid 50s to near 50 for the high from central to northeast Iowa. The lows once again will drop down to near frost conditions on Wednesday night for northwest Iowa, expect mid 30s for lows there. The remainder of the state will see upper 30s for the most part, a few 40 marks mixed in for the 'heat islands'. Thursday should mark the last day of chilly air before we begin a warm up for the weekend, highs in the mid to upper 50s throughout; a 60 degree reading or two isn't out of the question though in the extreme south. Thursday night will get us out of the frost possibilities, lower 40s and upper 30s from southwest to northeast.

The warm up will begin on Friday with the light winds finally getting a southerly component in them. Highs in the upper 60s for the southwest, mid 60s for the northwest & southeast and lower 60s for the northeast. Lows on Friday in the mid 40s to near 40 from west to east across the state. By the time we reach the weekend it looks like the next system may have portions of the state within its' influence. Rain chances already introduced for western Iowa on Saturday night through Sunday night. I'll watch this system progress over the week, it'll likely slow compared to current model forecasts but nonetheless have an effect on the weekend activities for some portion of the state. Next forecast update likely on Thursday...

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Fall Photography at Ledges State Park

Finished getting all of my photos uploaded this morning. Came away with a few good ones, didn't turn out as great as I thought it would have. I'm mainly going to blame this on the time of day I took quite a few of the shots, the bright afternoon sun definitely is not a friend when doing landscape pictures. Either way, a total of 8 pictures have been added to my Ledges Gallery Page.

Check out the Gallery

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