After an active start to April the pattern looks to continue its rather rainy and stormy stretch with a strong signal for well-above-normal precipitation from the Southern Plains through the Great Lakes. European Ensemble guidance has a large area of 3"+ over the next two weeks, The pattern really starts to get active late this week into next weekend. While precise details this far out are hard to pin down, early indications are two separate periods roughly April 9-11 then 13

These have been busy times around the region with showers and storms roaming the area since Monday night. Along with the beneficial rain we received, came the unwelcome element of widespread severe weather Thursday. That included 3 reports of tornadoes in my area. Along with that, 35 reports of a hail, much of it concentrated in my local area as supercels developed along a warm front stretched across my central counties. 2 miles east of Martinsburg in Keokuk, County, (and 3 m

It took a heck of a long time but we finally built the moisture with the forcing necessary to produce showers and thunderstorm. And, as the saying goes, if you build it, the rain will come. So far 1.5 to 3 inch amounts heave been pretty common. That's a nice upgrade from what fell 24 hours earlier. We're far from done as another healthy system quickly enters the picture Friday afternoon or evening. Since its arriving only 24 hours before the first storm, moisture levels will

The next 48 hours will feature a very active weather pattern that is likely to bring 1-3 inches of rain and the potential of strong thunderstoms. Currently, the Storm Prediction Center has a level level 3 enhanced risk of storms that includes all facets of severe weather including tornadoe, hail, and strong winds. As I assess the situation Wednesday night, I can see the potential, but I also see caveats that could diminish the threat. One thing that could thwart stronger sto

The first of multiple rain making systems paid a visit to parts of my area Monday night and early Tuesday, A nealy stationary boundary laid out along I-80 was the focus for showers and storms that brought some nice downpours to my central counties. Not only that, some one inch hail was noted in the stronger updrafts. The heavier rains set up mainly in an east west corridor that ran from south of the Quad Cities to the north of HWY 30. There was quite a bit of variance with am