It's been one heck of a week weather wise. After a fall like start with 60s for highs on Monday, a steady diet of sunshine and warm air allowed temperatures to reach 80 by Wednesday and remain there the rest of the week. Here's the tale of the tape in the Quad Cities. Notice too the predominance of warmth so far this month with 11 of the 16 days at 80 or above. Normal highs are now in the mid 70s. We've got a good 5 more days of this type of warmth before a pattern change is

The weather powers have been smiling on the Midwest this week with some fabulous late summer weather. Temperatures Thursday were at mid-August levels but fortunately humidity was not. Thanks to high pressure and the dry air associated with it, the only rain the past 24 hours was far to the northwest. Temperatures early Thursday afternoon were well above normal over the entire Midwest with some very large departures noted in Minnesota. The relatively straight forward aspect of

The JMA (Japanese Meteorological Agency) climate model has come out with its winter outlook. I consider the JMA one of the better long range forecasting tools so I pay attention, especially with the winter season not all that far away. Here's what it shows at 500mb for the month of December. There's a lot of blocking at northern latitudes and a ridge off the west coast. The broad interpretation of those factors from me is that it would be a favorable pattern for a quick start

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

There was a hint of fall in the air Tuesday morning with some places northwest of the Quad Cities down in the 40s for lows. We can expect a similar start Wednesday with widespread upper 40s to low 50s under a regime consisting of light wind and dry air. The coldest readings will be in the valleys or drainage basins. Here's what the 3k NAM indicates. The chill won't be around long as sunshine and good mixing brings warmer air that with time sends temperatures into the 80s, per