SNOWFLAKES ON THE CROCUS...
Figuring it was the last I would see of it for at least 6 months, I stayed up late Thursday night and watched it snow. Big flakes and a light wind allowed the snow to float down at a rhythmic pace. It was kind of mesmerizing and certainly pretty. Here's a shot of the Old Capital in Iowa City with spring crocus in the foreground.
Flocked trees were everywhere and spectacular in the early morning Friday. This one is sporting quite a load in south-central Iowa
As you can see the worst of the storm was over the southern third of Iowa extending into far northern Missouri and WC Illinois. Bedford, Iowa racked up 13.5 for the highest total in the central Midwest.
Some additional snowfall reports.
The storm tracked all the way from Nebraska to SW Michigan. It will remain a snow producer into Saturday as it cuts across southern New England.
The snow was the culmination of a wintry week across the Midwest.Get this...in some part of Iowa, snow has been observed for 7 consecutive days. That's unheard of this late in the year. I've seen flakes here in the Cedar Rapids area the last 5 days. As you would expect, temperatures have been at or near record levels to accomplish such a feat. These are the departures for the past 5 days around the central United States. That's a pretty impressive blast of late season cold.
Oh, I also came across this little tid-bit. Snow cover across North America this April has been well above normal and today was very close to record levels. That's payback for a winter that wasn't very generous with snow across the central Midwest.
I'm seriously pleased to report no snow is in the foreseeable future and with a strong SW wind Saturday it looks like highs will reach into the 60s in many areas, especially with much of the snow already melted. Winds will be a pain though as they gust 35-40 from the southwest ahead of the next cold front.
The front passes quietly Saturday night but does knock temperatures back a bit Sunday. The overall trend is for highs to hold in the 55-60 degree range through Tuesday. Then a welcome surge of warmth arrives Wednesday and Thursday with a good chance of highs around 70. This is the 10 day EURO meteorgram for Cedar Rapids.
Overall the pattern looks relatively dry too into the middle of next week. The EURO shows this for precipitation through Tuesday morning.
Well, time to go pack some more boxes. We're moving to Maine in 2 weeks and there's so much to do. I still have boxes I never unpacked from the last move more than 5 years ago. If you're not using it, it's time to lose it. My new motto. Roll weather...TS
