ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONG STORMS

Good evening, friends. Meteorologist Nick Stewart here with a quick update on the storm threat Monday evening as we are nearing the end of this really active stretch. As of 9:30 p.m., all severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in Iowa have been allowed to expire, however conditions remain viable for storms to re-intensify to severe limits. Damaging wind gusts and perhaps a tornado or two remain likely as this line of storms drifts east across Iowa into northern Missouri and western Illinois.

While the line is slowly weakening as it moves east, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for portions of eastern Iowa and northeast Missouri, to the east of existing tornado watches to the west. This continues until 4 a.m. We expect the line of storms to weaken by the time it reaches the Mississippi River late tonight, however gusty storms and lovally heavy rain will remain likely even towards the Quad Cities area.

The latest HRRR has the line of storms reaching the Mississippi River around 1 a.m. The strongest activity at this point looks to be in northeast Missouri and southeast Iowa where, again, damaging wind gusts will be the main hazard but a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

By daybreak Tuesday most of the rain is officially east of the area. A few lingering showers are possible for the morning commute but the severe threat is well away from the Upper Midwest.

I have not touched on Tuesday's severe weather risk much, and this is the reason why - the risk area by the Storm Prediction Center has significantly moved to the east/southeast. The threat locally is pretty much gone Tuesday and we enter a quieter, less active stretch for a bit.

We're almost wrapped up this active stretch of weather, and despite some light showers Friday, it looks like we should have some good weather for the extended Memorial Day weekend with temperatures in the mid-80s to make it feel like the holiday.

-Meteorologist Nick Stewart