We finally got the rain machine running again Tuesday after another week long shut down. While it wasn't a drought breaker, it was helpful falling at a gentle pace along with cool temperatures, and no frost in the ground. There's no doubt we needed it, as rain has been at a premium since August 19th. Below are the rainfall departures in Iowa over that 71-day period, August 19th through Monday the 27th. Most of my area in eastern Iowa was 4.5 to 6.7 inches below normal before

Since the middle of last week, it's been apparent that our next storm system was going to be a challenge to forecast. Energy surging in off the Pacific is drawing a bead on the Midwest, that is, until it encounters a wall of high pressure situated over the eastern Great Lakes. Locked firmly in place, this formidable block will force the energy to take the path of least resistance. In this case, it makes a hard right and curls underneath the block, before eventually turning no

The state of the weather over the Midwest can be summed up by the fact we can be quite excited for 0.5" of rain. It has been just so dry, but an autumn storm looks to bring some appreciable rain to the area. The problem? There is a fly in the ointment as I alluded to yesterday - dry air over the northern Great Lakes that will cause quite a gradient in rainfall from west to east. The good news? High resolution modeling is depicting rain moving into the area Tuesday late aftern

The start to the weekend was a cool and cloudy one for most of the area with a few spotty light showers here and there as well. The air certainly has that autumn feel we have been missing out on for quite a while. If you like the autumn weather then this week is mostly in your favor with seasonally-cool temperatures and a few light rain chances through the start of the work week. Five-day precipitation off the blend of models from the Weather Prediction Center (above) gives t

Two months from today it Christmas, but who's counting? More important, we are into the last week of October and for you peepers, the fall color is reaching its peak. I can't say it's overly vivid where I live, but that might be partially due to the warm, dry fall. That said, there are a few hot looking trees, and it's a special time of year that doesn't last long, especially after a hard freeze like we saw Friday morning. Speaking of the cold Friday morning, If you didn't no