A BREAK IN THE ACTION

In summation, the last week of our weather has been a litany of heat, humidity, and storms. Rinse and repeat, day after day. The latest round of storms Thursday night brought some additional downpours and closed out another day of heat index values near 100 degrees. Despite all the active weather, June rainfall around eastern Iowa easily falls into the category of feast or famine. On the wet side, near Independence in Buchanan County, nearly 9 inches of rain has been tallied. 60 miles south in Iowa City and parts of Johnson County, just 1.86 inches has been measured. If you are counting, that's a difference of 7 inches. (By the way, that does not include any rain that fell Thursday night).

Below, you can see the June rainfall departures around Iowa through the 25th. In my area, they range from +4.76 inches to -2.44. The driest part of the state is located in the orange bullseye, centered on EC Iowa. Further west, the center of the state has had the lions share of the rain, with departures of +1–5 inches.

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A WELL DESERVED BREAK IN THE ACTION...

The front that produced last night's rain is marching east. That ends the threat of storms and really any significant rain through a good portion of Sunday. A noticeable change in temperatures is expected Friday, with highs back into the mid to upper 70s north to the low 80s south. That's a 24 hr. drop in afternoon readings of 10–15 degrees near and north of I-80. Dew points will also decrease, especially in the north, where they reach the mid 60s. After some morning clouds, skies turn mostly sunny.

Heat and humidity quickly builds Saturday afternoon thanks to a return flow of southwesterly winds. Highs will jump back into the range of 87 north to 92 south. Where's there's been recent rains, dew points will approach 70. However, where antecedent dryness continues, they may mix out into the low to mid 60s. That keeps the heat index down, but it raises the ambient temperature, which is why low 90s could easily return to the south. Toasty either way.

Sunday, temperatures look comparable to Saturday, but the pre-frontal draw ahead of another cold front will allow tropical moisture to pool areawide. With dew points of 70-75, it appears another toasty day is on tap. The main order of business is the arrival of the approaching cold front. If it holds off until evening, it would allow another batch of thunderstorms to surge south ahead of it. If it's a bit sooner, that could bring a slightly cooler day to the north and keep the storm threat confined more to the southern half of the area.

No matter how it evolves, the upper air pattern reverts to NW flow Monday. That could very well bring dry weather Monday through Thursday of next week. It should also enlist seasonal temperatures and humidity levels, bringing some fine weather conditions to start July. The early read on the 4th is for warmer conditions and at least a small threat of scattered storms.

By the way, about 8:15 Thursday evening this storm and a nice shelf cloud barreled into my place overlooking the city of Dubuque. A thunderstorm warning was issued and a gust of 60 mph was reported in the SE side of the city. I would guess 50 mph gusts at my place and a couple periods of blinding rain. A nice way to cap off the day!

Happy Friday one and all and as always, roll weather...TS