WHERE'S WINTER?

It's certainly not in the Midwest right now. Temperatures were running 10-25 degrees above normal in parts of the Midwest Saturday afternoon.

The high temperature of 51 in Cedar Rapids is the warmest day in 62 days (since hitting 51 on November 4th). Likely the same for many of us in the Upper Midwest where the ground is now bare of snow and ice.

It's going to be another mild day Sunday, just not as warm as yesterday...

Clouds will be building in through the day ahead of our next storm system, which will bring rain to much of the Midwest on Monday.

As this system moves in it will continue to pull in warm air. Temperatures will be rising through the night Sunday and through the day Monday. High temperatures could be back in the 50s once again...

Dew points are going to high as well, indicating a lot of moisture present in the atmosphere..

And there's just enough instability that there could be an isolated thunderstorm, especially in western Illinois. Really, where did winter go?

And we're looking at the possibility of getting a good soaker (by January standards).

Keep in mind, we typically average around 0.7 to 1" of precipitation in the entire MONTH of January in the Upper Midwest.

Now typically behind a storm system, cooler air moves in. In the winter, usually MUCH colder air moves in. But it's just not there... temperatures cool down a bit on Tuesday but still remain above normal and above freezing across parts of the Midwest. (Cold air does take over the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin)

Enjoy this fall like weather while it lasts because the switch to winter will be flipped eventually.

RK