A MUCH NEEDED BREATHER...

After a week of what I would call intense weather, we all get a chance to breath with the active storm track that produced the storms breaking down and moving east. The last blast Friday, was the most intense and widespread with 25 tornado reports, 252 wind, and 233 hail for a total of 510 severe weather events.

Below is a closer view of the plots. To the right you will see a wind gust of 91 mph 2 miles northwest of Durant. Bloomington Normal had a gust of 86 and Davenport 66 mph.

This picture was sent to me by Alicia and Kaleb Ottman as a supercell dropped 2 inch hail there on Friday. That's a whopper guys!

Actually, the event was well forecast and expected. SPC had an enhanced level 3 risk in place and if you look at the plots above that's where most of them were.

During the peak of the severe weather locally, you can see the dark red enhanced cloud tops crossing the Mississippi towards early evening just ahead of a cold front. That's where the strongest storms were located.

The image below around 1:00am Saturday shows much cooler, drier air surging in behind the front.

Temperatures just after midnight had already fallen into the 40s with low 30s in NW Iowa where winds chills have plunged into the low 20s.

With the cold air advection ongoing Saturday expect gusty northwest winds of more than 30 mph that are likely to hold highs to the range of 47 north to 53 south. That's at least 30-32 dgrees colder than yesterday. Do have a coat!

Temperarures Saturday night will be in the 30s but there should be just enough warm air advection to keep readings from free falling. That should save us from a hard freeze.

Sunday a little clipper amy catch the NW with some clouds and prehaps a brief shower or sprinkle. Only light amounts are expected if any. However, a pretty stout temperature range is anticipated with highs in the mid 40s far NE to the upper 50s SW.

Beyond that, ridging begins to build over the Midwest which initiates another warm up that ultimatly draws moisture back into the region. Showers and storms are likely to be a feature from time to time after midweek. More severe weather is also possible nearby Thursday or Friday of next week. It's a bit early to say where the baroclinic boundary will set up and be most active but another round of significant rain is likely somewhere in the central Midwest. The EURO shows the heaviest just to our south.

The GFS is a bit further northwest catching my region, especially the south.

As for temperatures, that warm-up discussed next next week ensues and does its thing. However, following that a trough is likely to dig into the east and that produces a pronounced NW flow that keeps long range temperatures near to even below normal. Take a look. May could get off to a rather crisp start.

The EURO

The GFS

One thing is for sure, compared to Friday Saturday gets off to a fisky start with wind, passing clouds, and temperatures at least 30 degree colder. Not a pleasant day. Oh well, at least it's the weekend. Enjoy and roll weather...TS