Windy & Chilly!!

After a cold front moved through last night, additional cold air was pushed into the state as a Canadian high pressure system scooted in behind the cold front and associated low pressure. These two pressure systems combined to give much of the plains some strong gusty winds today, and Iowa was definitely in the mix with a high wind warning issued for much of the state for this morning and afternoon. Wind gusts across the state were in the 50s and even 60s (mph), with sustained winds 35-45 mph. These winds have weakened with the sunset, and are currently only 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Besides the wind today, the temperatures which started out near 50 at midnight have continued to fall throughout the day despite the sunshine. The air aloft is cold enough that even surface temperatures near 40 are enough to create sporadic snow flurries across the state. Ames did see some snow flurries between 6-7 PM, and other portions of the state will continue to see these flurries through the overnight hours.

With the cold air from Canada rushing onto the plains states, you can expect that the temperatures for the next day or so will not be very warm. Tonights' lows will be kept a little warmer due to the winds, but will still results in a widespread freeze for the entire state (the first of the year for the entire state). The lower 20s are likely in northwest Iowa, and only the upper 20s for the 'warm' southeast portion of the state. Tomorrow highs will range from near 40 in the north to the mid 40s in the south despite the sun being prominent throughout the day. Overnight lows on Monday will be the coldest of the season by far, with the teens in northwest Iowa and only the mid 20s in southeast Iowa.

As winds switch to the west and southwest Tuesday into Wednesday we will start to see a nice warm-up. Tuesday highs in the mid 40s over northeast Iowa to the mid 50s over southwest Iowa. Overnight lows in the mid 20s to lower 30s from northeast to southwest across the state. The winds really shift to the southwest on Wednesday, continuing to bring in the warmth with highs in the mid 50s to mid 60s from northeast to southwest. Upper 30s to lower 40s across the state on Wednesday night will finally get the entire state above freezing for a 24-hour period.

We'll warm up even more for Thursday, but another cold front coming down will keep the highs down for your Halloween weekend. A first look at your trick-or-treating forecast shows temperatures near 50 to the mid 50s from north to south across the state by 8 PM on Friday. More detail on the latter half of the week and Halloween forecast in later updates!