Let the Rain Begin!

Some light rainfall occurred over the afternoon hours in mainly western Iowa. A band of rain has continued to move into eastern Iowa, this is very narrow and is quite weak with rainfall amounts generally only a few hundredths. Another cluster of moderate rainfall has moved into southwestern Iowa, and should continue to move mainly east throughout southern and western Iowa. Additional rainfall should continue throughout the nighttime hours over all but extreme eastern Iowa. As the rain continues to wrap around a low pressure system that will be positioned well west of the state, the rain should continue through all but extreme eastern Iowa throughout the day tomorrow. The low pressure system will slowly move east/southeast overnight on Wednesday and through Thursday. The movement of the low will pull the showers over the western half of the state Wednesday night, and over nearly the entire state on Thursday. By Thursday night the showers will finally move out of all but southeastern Iowa, with the rain clearing the entire state by Friday afternoon. Rainfall totals may be quite heavy with the consistent rain; 1-2 inches over the eastern half of the state, and 2-3 inches possible over the western half of the state. Local areas may see even heavier amounts approaching 4 inches or greater... You can view the latest radar from central Iowa on the Iowa Chaser Homepage.

Under the cloudy skies for the next 3 days, the temperatures will be fairly steady. Lows only ranging from the mid 30s to the mid 40s tonight through Thursday night. Highs tomorrow in the lower 40s to mid 50s from west to east, with the upper 40s and lower 50s on Thursday. As the system clears the state on Friday we'll see temperatures rise to to the mid 50s to lower 60s from east to west...

Just outside of Iowa, the strong cut-off low pressure system will bring some very cold air through the plains. As the low moves over Nebraska, conditions are looking favorable for a strong winter storm to take place with winds in excess of 45 mph and snowfall amounts well over 6 inches! The winter storm may affect areas from O'Neill to Valentine, southward to Imperial and along I80 between North Platte and Grand Island. The winter precip will stay out of Iowa for now, but the winter-type air will once again make its' way down over the weekend.

Later updates will update the precipitation forecast, and contain some storm total precipitation amounts.