PARDON THE INTERRUPTION...

It hasn't felt much like winter the past few days, but let the word go forth, our spring fling is on hold for a couple of days. A strong cold front has carved a path through the region and temperatures Friday will be as much as 36 degrees colder than just 24 hours earlier.

At noon Thursday, you can see a band of low clouds in white stretched out from South Dakota, Minnesota, northern Iowa, and Wisconsin, representing the cold air surging in behind the cold front Friday.

At noon, Iowa temperatures ranged from 42 behind the front in Spencer to 82 in Ft. Madison and Keokuk ahead of it.

Even further north, readings in northwest Wisconsin were in the upper 20s. That's the chill we get to partake in Friday and early in the day Saturday.

As the front passed Thursday, it did spark some showers and even a few thunderstorms. Rainfall was generally light (1/10th of an inch or less), especially in the north where little if any rain fell. Further south, where more instability was available in the warm air out ahead of the front, some areas did see some downpours and pockets of beneficial rain. A few places E/SE of the Quad Cities may have seen some localized 1/2" amounts. Unfortunately, not nearly as much as we needed.

That brings me the latest drought index which shows no improvement locally. The entire region is in moderate to severe drought. Overall, the Midwest region has 70% coverage of either abnormally dry, moderate, severe, or extreme drought conditions.

The Evaporartive Demand Drought Index (EDDI), is a drought monitoring tool that measures the "thirst of the atmosphere" (evaporative demand) to provide early warning of drought conditions. It identifies how anomalies in temperature, humidity, wind speed, and radiation accelerate drying in soils and vegetation, serving as an indicator for both flash droughts and long-term droughts. My area is in a level 4 or 5 state of 5 possible levels.

The Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) in drought monitoring, is the difference between the moisture currently in the air and the maximum moisture the air can hold at a specific temperature. It's a measure of the atmosphere's "drying power". High VPD (dry air) increases water demand on plants, reduces plant growth, causes forest drought, and boosts wildfire risks. The past 28 days the VPD has been very high over 3/4's of the nation, especially bad from the Rockies west.

With extremely dry air pouring into the Midwest Friday, no rain is expected through the weekend and most of Monday itself. Just look at the available water vapor Friday evening, 0.15 inches or less (bone dry)! Similar amounts are found over the eastern half of the nation.

Sunday morning the dry air is still in control. Outside of a few light showers in Florida, the whole Continental U.S. is precipitation free. That is hard to do, but I guess not shocking due to the extent of the dry air.

There are some encouraging signs of a more active and potentially wetter pattern for several days next week. Return flow could bring rain back Monday night with scattered showers and storms possible through Thursday. The GFS shows some beneficial amounts during that period.

The EURO is not as robust, but at least it indicates rain as well.

Also, if you are looking for rain, the EURO ensemble has a good look out 2 weeks. The average of the 51 members looks like this.

Back to the weekend, there will be no precipitation worries but temperatures start out rather frisky as I stated earlier. Following lows in the upper 20s north to the mid 30s south, Friday's temperatures won't respond much with strong cold air advection. Highs should generally range from 44-49. Wind chills around sunrise are expected to be in the upper teens to mid 20s. Enough of that.

Some moderation takes place Saturday with highs back around 49-54. Sunday, serious improvement takes place with readings of 61 to 66. Finally, 70s are on the board Saturday with 78-83 looking good Tuesday. Beyond that, a rather sharp downturn in readings is expected the middle and end of next week as we play cat and mouse in the temperature department. That's to be expected in early April. Please pardon the interruption.

That's a wrap for this edition. Happy Friday one and all, roll weather...TS

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