SPRINGING INTO THE WEEKEND

We finally have the sun and now it's time for the warmth! Temperatures are going to be the warmest they've been in over two weeks in my local area. Saturday's highs look like this:

It will be sunny, but it's also going to be pretty breezy out there. Here's the surface pattern showing strong winds in the afternoon:

Gusts could be as high as 30 mph. But we can't complain too much considering there will be full on sunshine the whole day. Winds will still be kicking Sunday and temperatures will be even warmer!

This will be the warmest day since mid-February, and if the temperatures end up over-performing it'll be the warmest temperatures of the year so far. It will also get a *little* muggy out there with dew points climbing into the upper 50s and low 60s.

It will be enough to help generate storms that afternoon and evening. Most of the weekend WILL be dry, and in my local area storms likely won't arrive until after sunset. Here's the day 3 risk from the Storm Prediction Center:

The models are backing off some with these storms and indicating lower moisture levels than before and later timing. Here's the surface pattern on the GFS showing the storm moving through the Midwest through Monday night:

There should be enough moisture near the Great Lakes (closer to the low) but down to the south, the GFS and European have backed off. When storms do get going (which I believe there will be some scattered about ahead of the cold front), they could produce strong winds and large hail.

Check out the precip totals on the GFS and Euro below. You can see the scattered nature of the storms to the south of Iowa and more widespread rain to the north:

Some pretty good consistency. Something to keep an eye on and it'll keep things interesting Sunday night. In the meantime, soak up the sun and get ready for some color to pop around these parts!

RK