26 MARCH EXTENDED FORECAST

26 MARCH EXTENDED FORECAST

Sunrise: 7:02 AM CDT
Sunset: 7:28 PM CDT

IT'S SPRING - YESTERDAYS Severe Weather Reports around the country..........
National Reports 114 total reports
State Reports and number reported: AL (10), CA (3), CT (12), FL (1), IL (1), KY (1), LA (26), ME (2), MA (12), NH (13), NY (6), OK (7), RI (12), TN (3), TX (2), VT (3)

SKIES WERE CLEAR OVER IOWA EARLY THIS MORNING WITH TEMPERATURES VERY TYPICAL FOR LATE MARCH. WINDS WERE GENERALLY LIGHT FROM THE EAST WITH NIGHT TIME READINGS IN THE 20S AND 30S.

LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE ROCKIES TODAY - CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE THRU THE DAY AND SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL PICK UP AND GUST TO 20-30MPH THIS AFTERNOON. LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE OUT OF THE ROCKIES PUSHING RAIN INTO WESTERN IOWA BY EARLY SATURDAY - AND INTO POW COUNTY BY SAT AFTERNOON. EXPECT RAIN TO END BY EARLY SUNDAY AS THE LOW MOVES EAST.

BY EARLY NEXT WEEK THE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CHANGE WITH THE MIDWEST BETWEEN WESTERN U.S. LOW PRESSURE AND EASTERN HIGH PRESSURE. THIS WILL BOOST TEMPERATURES TO THE WARMEST READINGS OF THE YEAR ALONG WITH LITTLE OR NO PRECIPITATION THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK...ALLOWING FOR A MUCH NEEDED DRYING PERIOD.

TODAY 26TH - PARTLY CLOUDY - WINDY - TEMP 55 - MOSTLY CLOUDY OVERNITE

SAT 27TH - MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH AFTERNOON RAIN SHOWERS - GUSTY WINDS - TEMP 56

SUN 28TH - MORNING RAIN SHOWERS - WINDY - THEN PARTLY CLOUDY - TEMP 52

THE WEEK OF THE 29TH IS SETTING UP TO BE THE NICEST WEATHER WE'VE SEEN THUS FAR THIS YEAR......HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE AND SET UP OVER IL AND ANCHOR ITSELF THE ENTIRE WEEK. THIS WILL KEEP US UNDER PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW FOR 4-5 DAYS STRAIGHT - PUSHING OUR DAILY HIGH TEMPS TO NEAR 70 BY LATE WEEK.

MON THRU FRIDAY 29TH-APRIL 2ND - PARTLY CLOUDY WITH GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS - CLOUDS WILL INCREASE LATE WEEK - TEMPS WILL RISE THRU THE WEEK FROM MID 50'S TO NEAR 70 BY WEEKS END

AS THE NEXT WEATHER MAKER DEVELOPS OVER THE ROCKIES EAST RANGE LATE WEEK, CLOUDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE MIDWEST - DEVLOPING A LARGE AREA OF UNSETTLED WEATHER THAT HAS THE EARMARKS TO SET IN OVER THE AREA THAT COULD LAST A WEEK TO 10 DAYS. PERIODS OF MODERATE RAINFALL IS LIKELY WITHIN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THRU OUT THE WEEK. IF THE PATTERN TURNS OUT LIKE I THINK IT WILL, WE'LL POSSIBLY SEE HEAVY/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AROUND THE 3RD, AND AGAIN ON THE 7TH - 9TH. THESE TWO TIME PERIODS WILL ALSO PRODUCE THE MOST RAINFALL OF THE WEEK - 2/3 OF THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL COULD COME THRU THIS PERIOD.....

Severe Weather Awareness Week -- April 5-9, 2010, COULD BE FITTING DURING THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.........
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dmx&storyid=21228&source=0

SAT THRU FRI 3RD-10TH - DAILY RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM (MUCH COOLER AFTER THE 7TH)

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SPRING 2010 EXTENDED FORECAST:
ISSUED 16 MARCH 2010:

APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE - THE TIME PERIOD WILL START OUT DRYER AND WARMER THAN NORMAL, BUT IN THE END WILL AVERAGE OUT BY JUNE.......SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL EXISTS ALL SPRING, BUT TIMES TO REALLY WATCH ARE: APRIL WEEK 3, MAY WEEK 3, JUNE WEEKS 1 AND 4.

ABOUT 85 PERCENT OF THE 45 TO 65 THUNDERSTORMS IOWA EXPERIENCES ANNUALLY OCCUR BETWEEN APRIL AND SEPTEMBER WITH THE PEAK MONTH BEING JUNE. AT TIMES, THESE THUNDERSTORMS BECOME SEVERE PRODUCING HAIL, HIGH WINDS, TORRENTIAL RAINS AND AN OCCASIONAL TORNADO. TORNADO OCCURRENCES AVERAGE ABOUT 46 PER YEAR SPREAD OVER 16 DAYS WITH MAY AND JUNE BEING THE PEAK MONTHS OF TORNADO OCCURRENCE. HAIL OCCURS MOST FREQUENTLY IN MAY; HOWEVER, NEARLY HALF OF THE CROP-HAIL DAMAGE COMES IN JULY WHEN CROPS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO YIELD-REDUCING DAMAGE. IN THE AVERAGE YEAR, HAIL DESTROYS ABOUT 1.4 PERCENT OF IOWA’S CORN CROP AND 4.5 PERCENT OF ITS SOYBEAN CROP. HAIL LOSSES ARE GREATEST IN NORTHWEST IOWA WHERE HAIL STORMS ARE TYPICALLY MORE SEVERE AND ALSO SOMEWHAT MORE FREQUENT THAN IN THE SOUTHEAST. IN ANY ONE LOCATION, HAIL LARGE ENOUGH TO CAUSE CROP/PROPERTY DAMAGE WILL OCCUR ON ABOUT TWO TO FOUR DAYS PER YEAR.


APRIL – AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: 60F (6 DEG ABOVE NORMAL)
PRECIP: 1-2 INCHES (1-2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL)

WEEK 1: RAIN AND WARM
WEEK 2: RAIN/THUNDER THEN SUNNY AND COOLER
WEEK 3: THUNDERSTORMS THEN SUNNY AND WARMER
WEEK 4: SUNNY AND VERY WARM – THEN THUNDERSTORMS

MAY – AVERAGE TEMP 68F (4 DEG ABOVE NORMAL)
PRECIP: 4 INCHES (1.5 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL)

WEEK 1: THUNDERSTORMS THEN SUNNY
WEEK 2: SUNNY THEN THUNDERSTORMS AND WARM
WEEK 3: THUNDERSTROMS THEN COOLER
WEEK 4: HOT AND HUMID/AFTERNOON (AIRMASS) THUNDERSTORMS

JUNE – AVERAGE TEMP 73 ( NEAR NORMAL)
PRECIP: 4 INCHES (NEAR NORMAL)

WEEK 1: HOT AND HUMID/AFTERNOON (AIRMASS) THUNDERSTORMS
WEEK 2: SUNNY AND COOLER
WEEK 3: THUNDERSTORMS THEN SUNNY, HOT AND HUMID
WEEK 4: HOT AND HUMID/AFTERNOON (AIRMASS) THUNDERSTORMS