I knew Tuesday had the makings of a fine day and brother, it did not disappoint. Highs of 77-81 with sunshine and low humidity is a combination that's just about imposible to beat. However, lets see if we can do it with another chamber of commerce day Wednesday. I expect a re-run of sun, dry air, a fresh breeze and highs of 79-83. Tough to turn your nose up at that. Synoptically, changes enter the picture Thursday afternoon when a pair of short wave troughs eject out of the P

A big late season Canadian high pressure was perched over the area Sunday night resulting in frost on the tulips early Monday. With a light pressure gradient around daybreak, the dense cold air dove into the low lying areas producing some healthy extremes. Illinois City near Muscatine reported a low of 22 with Vinton in the Cedar River Valley plummiting to 23. High elevations were actually warmer with some readings 2-3 degrees above freezing, especially along the Mississippi.

Needless to say it has been a very active stretch of weather across the area so far this spring. Since 1893 it's in the top five for wettest springs to date, with northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin the wettest on record. Rivers are in flood stage and running well above normal. The pattern continues to look active weather over the next 10 days but there are some signals for a break come early May. The Quad Cities are in the midst of the seventh-wettest spring to date run

Talk about a wild week of weather! Across the Iowa, Illinois and Missouri area we had more than 600 severe thunderstorm warnings and nearly 200 tornado warnings. Thankfully as we roll through the weekend and early this week the pattern is taking a bit of a breather, however we are watching yet another stretch of active weather late in the week to round out the month of April. So far through April there has been 216 Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings issued in the state

After a week of what I would call intense weather, we all get a chance to breath with the active storm track that produced the storms breaking down and moving east. The last blast Friday, was the most intense and widespread with 25 tornado reports, 252 wind, and 233 hail for a total of 510 severe weather events. Below is a closer view of the plots. To the right you will see a wind gust of 91 mph 2 miles northwest of Durant. Bloomington Normal had a gust of 86 and Davenport 6