WINDS OF CHANGE THIS WEEKEND....
Thursday afternoon the sun was shining and it was a glorious Indian Summer day. Indian summer being a dry mild period following a freeze. Speaking of freezing, Wednesday night was in fact the coldest night of the year so far around my area with lows hitting the 20s in most spots. The Quad Cities reached 27.
By mid-day readings were back up around 60 under bright blue skies. Look at the extent of the cloud free conditions on this satellite image.
The lack of cloudiness is indicative of the dry air that's currently in place. It's led to a week of relatively dry conditions. Here's the 7 day rainfall around my local area.
You can see how the cool dry air has pushed the deep moisture and heavier precipitation to the south on this larger version of the 7 day rainfall. Texas really took a beating.
A disturbance now in Canada is expected to race southeast today. Ahead of it a few spotty warm advection showers or sprinkles are possible mainly in the morning. With the dry air in place little if any rain will fall...perhaps 1/10" near and north of HWY 20. Friday will be another mild day with brisk SW winds pushing highs close to 60.
Saturday will be a day of strong cold air advection. A fast moving pocket of cold air aloft and big pressure rises will contribute to NW winds that are likely to reach 35-40 mph. Here's forecast wind gusts on the 3k NAM.
Temperatures in my area Saturday will likely reach the low to mid 40s before slowly falling in the afternoon. An isolated shower is possible in NE locations but the main focus of the day will be windy chilly conditions. The wind will be a factor in the Iowa Maryland homecoming game in Iowa City. For you fans and tailgaiters, wind chills will be in the 30s...dress warm.
Saturday night winds will quickly ease and temperatures will plummet into the mid to upper 20s under fair skies.
Sunday extremely dry air will dominate the Midwest with PWAT's near 1/10". A couple weeks ago in the wet pattern they were near 2.00"
With the dry air soundly in place cool to seasonally dry weather is expected Sunday-Thurday of next week. Precipitation chances should increase towards the weekend as the upper level flow undergoes some re-organization. Happy Friday and roll weather...TS