Record Highs on April 23

Although nothing will become official until we go past midnight tonight, it would appear very likely that at least three cities saw record high temperatures this afternoon in northwest Iowa. Much of southern Iowa saw cloud cover this afternoon due to an impressive MCV (mesoscale convective vortex) that was initiated across eastern Kansas during the early morning hours and continued across northern Missouri throughout the day. The clouds across much of the south kept temperatures much cooler than expected, with highs only in the mid 70s to lower 80s. This is still well above normal for this time of year, thus nobody should really be complaining!

With clear skies, strong southerly winds, and ample mixing, the temperatures across northwest Iowa soared this afternoon with many stations reaching the mid 80s early in the afternoon. The following are details on the records that are likely to become official at the end of the day:

Sioux City, IA peaked at 3:46 PM this afternoon with a high of 92 degrees. This breaks the old record of 87 degrees that occurred in 1939!

Just previous to Sioux City's high, Sioux Center reached their peak of 89 degrees at 3:38 PM. This ties the previous record that was set in 1990.

Spencer, IA also went above the previous record that was set in 1990. The high today was 86 degrees, which was 2 degrees above the previous record.

Look for temperatures to once again reach into the 80s tomorrow, potentially hovering near the record mark for April 24!