Here comes the warmth!

Winds will be turning to the west and southwest over the next couple of days, and with westerlies from the Rockies through the state of Iowa we'll be in the downslope flow that will/could allow temperatures to soar. Areas where the snow cover is limited or non-existent will see much warmer temperatures when compared to others parts of the state that have several inches to even well over a foot of snow on the ground. These warmer temperatures will continue until Friday when another cold front will move winter-time air back and leave us with below normal temperatures through the weekend. A few small chances of snow showers and flurries over the weekend, but a potentially significant winter storm will once again be in the picture for the first-half of the week.

High temperatures on Wednesday will range from near 30 in the northeast to the lower 40s in the southwest. Temperatures on Thursday will be a few degrees higher, ranging from the lower 30s to mid 40s from northeast to southwest. Lows on Wednesday night and Thursday night will range from the mid-teens to the 20s from north to south. As a cold front slides through overnight and into the morning hours on Friday the temperatures will stall, leading to highs from the mid-teens to upper 20s from north to south across the state. We'll really start to feel the cold again come Friday night, with lows ranging from the single digits in the south to the single digits below zero in the north.

Temperatures will remain in the single digits at most for overnight lows during the weekend, with highs only into the teens. As mentioned, there is some slight chances of snow flurries throughout the state over the weekend with mainly cloudy skies. We'll see better chances of snow creep into the forecast on Sunday night and continue through early next week. More details on the cold returning and the chances of snowfall in later updates...