SWAILS CAST, THE NEXT 24HRS OF WEATHER...

A weak clipper is starting its journey across central Iowa late Wednesday morning. It has resulted in scattered clouds which you can see here.

The center of the clipper is over WC Iowa at mid-day.

The forcing (what there is of it ) is north of the center and some organized showers have developed in NW Iowa. Most of what is showing up further east is either sprinkles or not reaching the ground

As the afternoon and evening develops the disturbance will head for EC Iowa gradually weakening. However, it is shown spreading a narrow band of rain (perhaps mixed with a little snow) across my northern counties, especially north of HWY 20. The 3k NAM has it here at 5pm. Further south in much of the rest of my area mixed sun and clouds will be found.

Total precip. is again confined to a narrow band up north and is not much more than 1 to 2 tenths of an inch in a band roughly 40 miles wide.

The 3k does show some minor snow accumulations but boundary layer temperatures are very marginal. I could see a few flakes in spots but accumulations would take a heavy burst of precip. (Maybe a few isolated spots north of HWY 20 could get a dusting on grassy and elevated surfaces late today or early this evening). North central Iowa is most favored if it happens. The 3k NAM has this for snow totals.

Temperatures are projected to look like this at 1:00pm

Once the precip. develops in the north readings will quickly fall into the 30s. It will be at least 15 degrees warmer in my southern counties without any clouds and precip. These are 6pm temperatures. Probably several degrees low near and south of I-80

After the clipper departs there will be some lingering moisture and clouds into Thursday morning. Models do try to show the clouds breaking from the west Thursday afternoon in this simulated satellite at 1:00pm. This bodes well for sunshine Friday.

Thursday is going to be another crisp day with highs in the 40s.

Later today I will have a new addition of Steve's Wild World of Weather. In it he will show you some folklore you can use to make your own winter snowfall forecasts. Interesting stuff as usual.

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