Iowa weather: Warming up for the weekend
Updated: 12:35 PM CST on March 1, 2024
The Temperature Fluctuations We've Seen Here So far, despite all the crazy fluctuations we've seen this week, we're averaging warmer than average here for February. This February was the warmest February on record, and you combine that with the second-warmest December on record and the near average January of this winter as a whole, and it's now officially the warmest on record in Des Moines. We'll take a look at some of the other sites that will be available later this afternoon. A look at the 12-hour forecast beginning on the first day of spring. On a lighter note, temperatures will reach the mid-50s. This afternoon, skies will be mostly sunny and southerly winds will taper off as we move into the afternoon and evening hours. Where temperatures will drop to the forties. This evening, some of us had some clouds all day. Most of it was heading to the south and east, but some of the drier air working into the system is now starting to eat away at the clouds. The rest of the state is looking at mostly sunny skies. Winds are still brisk from the south now. This will continue as we get into the next few days before a storm system approaches. This is the one we've been watching for the last couple of days off the coast of Oregon and California. It will get here late Sunday into Monday, and before that, we'll see plenty of wind and warm weather. Unfortunately, the path of this system will not be suitable to bring us much of the rain we so desperately need now. The system will move farther north, and as you can see, it doesn't have really good moisture. So, at best, Sunday into Monday, we may see some scattered showers as the cold front arrives with a better chance for rain from southern and eastern Iowa over southeastern Iowa into northern Illinois and northern Missouri. Coming on Monday. Watch the clouds disappear this afternoon. Temperatures will reach the mid 50s before dropping into the 40s and eventually ending up in the upper 30s tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon, those southerly winds will warm us all into the 60s to near 70 degrees, and it should be a mostly sunny day with those strong southerly winds. Tomorrow, the fire danger will be elevated in our central and western counties, and not at the level we have seen in the past two days. This week, but still, be careful with any outdoor burning you may have plans to do, and the fire danger will diminish tomorrow evening. By the time we move into Sunday, those winds will strengthen even more. We're in the high 50s to start the day before moving into the mid to upper 70s. There comes that cold front. It comes with a slight chance of a few showers in the Northeast, and as that front moves toward the Southeast on Monday, we may see a slightly better chance of rain. But I do want to note that the fire danger that could arise Sunday afternoon and into Sunday evening will be high as we have a lot of wind, along with temperatures rising to nearly 79 degrees. This is two degrees away from a record high. This cold front will bring us to low temperatures in the 60s with little rain over our southeastern counties.
Iowa weather: Warming up for the weekend
Updated: 12:35 PM CST on March 1, 2024
Waking up to milder conditions with air temperatures in the 30s and upper 20s, but winds will still make it feel like the 20s for most of the state. Interactive radar | WEATHER ALERTS Breezy conditions will continue with winds of 10 to 20 mph in the morning and afternoon. We will have more cloud cover moving into central and eastern Iowa this morning. We should see a clear trend in the late morning and early afternoon, but clouds will remain over the eastern part of the state which will keep temperatures from getting much warmer than west of I35. Highs will be near 60 degrees west and highs 50 degrees in central Iowa. East IA will struggle to get out of the 40s this afternoon. The winds will continue into the weekend as we look at mostly sunny skies. Highs will be near 70 on Saturday and upper 70s on Sunday. We should be away from breaking the record for March 3 (81 degrees). A cold front is expected to pass through later Sunday, bringing a chance of clouds and rain Sunday night into Monday. The chance of storms has diminished because the severe threat is also low. There will be a chance for some isolated storms, but they should be relatively weak storms. Highs will be more moderate spring like temperatures with highs back in the 50s for most of next week. The winds should finally die down next week as well. The chance of more much-needed rain will come by the end of next week. Models don't fully agree on rain chances at this time, so confidence remains low on this rain chance. We will continue to monitor this over the next week. Iowa weather forecast today: Cloudy in the morning with mostly sunny and breezy in the afternoon. Height 59F. Winds are southwesterly, 15 to 20 knots. Wind speeds reach 25 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear skies. Low around 39F. Winds are southerly, 10 to 15 knots. Tomorrow: Sunny to partly cloudy. High near 70F. Winds are southerly, 15 to 20 knots. Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy. Low 56 Fahrenheit. Winds are southerly, 10 to 20 knots.
Waking up to milder conditions with air temperatures in the 30s and upper 20s, but winds will still make it feel like the 20s for most of the state.
Interactive Radar | Weather alerts
Breezy conditions will continue with winds of 10 to 20 mph in the morning and afternoon. We will have more cloud cover moving into central and eastern Iowa this morning. We should see a clear trend in the late morning and early afternoon, but clouds will remain over the eastern part of the state which will keep temperatures from getting much warmer than west of I35. Highs will be near 60 degrees west and highs 50 degrees in central Iowa. East IA will struggle to get out of the 40s this afternoon. The winds will continue into the weekend as we look at mostly sunny skies.
Highs will be near 70 on Saturday and upper 70s on Sunday. We should stay away from breaking the March 3 recordResearch and development (81 degrees). A cold front is expected to pass through later Sunday, bringing a chance of clouds and rain Sunday night into Monday. The chance of storms has diminished because the severe threat is also low. There will be a chance for some isolated storms, but they should be relatively weak storms. Highs will be more moderate spring like temperatures with highs back in the 50s for most of next week. The winds should finally die down next week as well.
The chance of more much-needed rain will come by the end of next week. Models don't fully agree on rain chances at this time, so confidence remains low on this rain chance. We will continue to monitor this over the next week.
Iowa weather forecast
today: Cloudy in the morning with mostly sunny and breezy in the afternoon. Height 59F. Winds are southwesterly, 15 to 20 knots. It reaches speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.
Tonight: Mostly clear skies. Low around 39F. Winds are southerly, 10 to 15 knots.
tomorrow: Sunny to partly cloudy. High near 70F. Winds are southerly, 15 to 20 knots.
tomorrow a night: partly cloudy. Low 56 Fahrenheit. Winds are southerly, speeding from 10 to 20 knots.
