HERE COMES THE FALL...
The colors are changing, leaves are falling and the day are getting shorter. It's been fall in almost every facet except for the temperatures. September is already over three degrees above normal in my local area and is *already* ranking in top three warmest Septembers on record at the Cedar Rapids airport... joining the last two years at the top.

Sunday was another example of that with dozens of records falling across the Midwest and eastern U.S.

Temperatures were well into the 80s and close to 90 in parts of my local area for the fifth day in a row.

In fact - in Cedar Rapids we've now hit 90 degrees four days in a row... only time we've done it this year... and the longest stretch of 90 degree + weather since August 25 to 30... of 2013!
Now, just looking at the map above you can see a change is coming. Cooler, drier fall air is on the way. But.. not yet. Monday will still be a toasty day for many.

Temperatures will be falling throughout the day Monday in eastern Nebraska, western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa. Parts of NW Iowa will be near 60 Monday afternoon while the SE corner will be pushing 90! Ahead of the temperature drop showers and thunderstorms will be scattered about along the cold front. Here's the simulated radar images Monday morning through Wednesday morning:

Rainfall totals look like this:

Unfortunately the heaviest of the rain misses the drought stricken areas of the Midwest (drought monitor valid as of Sept. 19):

But everyone will be experiencing the fall air behind the rain. Tuesday and Wednesday's high temperatures will be a 20-30 degree swing from this weekend!


And this front looks to end our warm spell... here's the meteogram through the first week of October in Cedar Rapids as an example.

The heat gets shut off and temperatures start to moderate back to seasonal values into October.
RK