Small Blast of Snow... Large Blast of Cold!

Another little wave of energy is going to work through the state tonight, bringing with it the chance for some light snow over a majority of the state. This comes after what was a beautiful day outside today with the sun shining and actually being strong enough to melt the snow! A good sign that the snow won't be staying around for too much longer for those who are wishing for it to leave. Even though temperatures didn't get above freezing, the sign is high enough and is getting enough energy on the pavement to melt the snow away. However, it won't get that chance in the coming days as this system is going to bring with it a large blast of cold air that will send temperatures to near record cold for Friday night!

A small shortwave is noted in the mid-levels as of the latest upper air plots, this will be responsible for the light snow showers that are likely to occur tonight. This snowfall should be much like our last small system that passed through the state. Light to moderate snow, mainly light and fluffy allowing for it to easily be blown; although winds are not expected to be a problem. Minimal accumulations are expected, highest amounts in the 1-2 inch range otherwise mainly less. Snow is already noted in the observations from Mason City and Spencer, with other stations to the north in Minnesota also reporting light snow. This should work through the state overnight, with maybe a few isolated flurries in the southeast tomorrow morning. Lows tonight are expected to range from the teens in southeast Iowa to the single digits below zero in the northwest.

Highs tomorrow will show the cold air well, from the 10s and teens up to the mid 20s in extreme southeast Iowa that will set up the stage for a night of near record cold over the state. The trough will be placed over the central and eastern thirds of the state, allowing western Iowa to be the warmest place in the state for Friday night. Nonetheless the warmest you are going to see is the upper single digits, while areas of northeast Iowa will plummet into the single digits below zero. Likely reaching near record lows in the process...

As this trough moves out of the state though, temperatures will begin to rebound nicely over the weekend. Highs on Saturday expecting to range from ~20 in the northeast to the lower 30s in the west. Lows much better with temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 from northeast to southwest. Sunday will be even warmer with lower 30s in the northeast and lower 40s in the west. All of this occurring with just a small shot of some flurries on Saturday and Saturday night over mainly the northern and northeastern portions of the state.

Look for the warm-up to continue into early next week with the 50s well in sight for the state.