We've enjoyed some beautiful weather the past week but it has come with a price in my northwest counties and that is increased dryness due to the lack of rain. The new drought monitor shows a tongue of abnormally dry soil conditions from SW Wisconsin back into parts of EC Iowa. That includes cities such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Dubuque. Moderate to severe drought now covers much of southern Iowa extending into WC Illinois. It's a little hard to see in the week to week

When I'm wondering about weather folklore and historical events this is the man I go to. With more than 50 years of statistical and observational research, he's the dude! When it comes to lunar cycles, woolly bear caterpillars, insects, bugs, and animals, he tracks them, records them, and establishes ties to weather patterns. Only one person takes climatology to a level like this. His name is Steve Gottschalk by way of Lowden, Iowa. He's a knowledgeable and interesting man. I

Temperatures are off to another chilly start Thursday with areas of frost again widespread. Wednesday morning the worst of the chill was just to our NW where some places in the NW half of Iowa dipped into the upper 20s. Mason City was one of the colder spots with their low of 27. Sheldon and Spencer also reached that level. In my area, Independence and Lowden both touched the freezing mark at 32. Much like Wednesday morning, after a chilly start a full day of sunshine promise

Scattered frost is on the pumpkins around many parts of the Midwest thanks to a sprawling high pressure situated over the region. That's provided clear skies, light winds, and dry air. Combine that with nights that have been getting shorter by the day for over 3 months and you can readily see the chilling effect it produces. Early Wednesday frost advisories or freeze warnings cover parts of 7 states. Here's the high pressure delivering the cold situated just east of Minneapo

As I indicated a week ago all the ingredients for frost will be on the table Wednesday morning. That includes: A large 1036mb Canadian high Dry air Light winds Clear skies Maximum radiational cooling With all those ingredients in play, it looks like old "Jack" will be nimble quick and cold Tuesday night. For now, the biggest question is how cold? Some of the high-res CAM models are indicating lows at or below freezing near and north of I-80. The coldest scenarios are highly d