FROM COATS TO SHORTS....

Well, maybe some people were going from coats to shorts on Saturday... but we're going to see temperatures take a swing up as we head into the new week.

Let's start with Saturday morning:

The Cedar Rapids airport dipped well below freezing, dropping down to 27°, which is a hard freeze. The average date for a hard freeze - 28° or colder - is October 20th.

The cold was thanks to a big strong high pressure system at the surface sitting over Iowa:

The high pressure system leads to clear skies, calm winds, and the cool temperatures. With a little moisture in place from last week's light rain that allowed frost to form across the region.

We can trace the air back from where it originated and it traveled all the way from Russia:

Now the cold air will quickly retreat. The high pressure system has moved down to our south and winds will pick up out of the south to begin the new week. Sunday afternoon will be about ten degrees warmer:

Warm air remains in overhead Monday:

The warmer air will begin to fade as our next storm system arrives Tuesday into Wednesday:

In addition to rain temperatures will once again be knocked back to finish the week.

More of the details in my next post!

RK