SOME "ABOVE NORMAL" DAYS AHEAD....

The chill of fall has certainly been felt around here recently, especially Sunday. Behind Saturday's system the winds picked up and never really seemed to stop. Here's a list of the top wind gusts per the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities:

It will still be a little breezy Monday, but winds won't be nearly as strong as Sunday. Gusts will be closer to 20-30 mph as a weak cold front passes through. Ahead of the front there will be sunshine and temperatures will be in the 50s:

The front won't do much other than increase the winds in the afternoon and evening and lead to a cooler day on Tuesday:

So where does the warmth come in? Well there will be a nice warm up in the upper levels of the atmosphere toward the middle/end of the week. A big ridge will build in and allow for southerly flow to develop and warmer weather (coupled with plenty of sunshine). Temperatures will be above normal by 10 to 15 degrees on Thursday:

Temperatures won't necessarily remain in the 60s each day, but generally there will be more days with temperatures near/above the 50° mark (which is the average high for this time of year). You can see this trend with this 15 day forecast from the GFS. Cedar Rapids:

Quad Cities:

There will still be some cool days in there, but it's nice to see we're not nosediving right into winter right away. 60s start to become less common as we head toward the end of November sooo... cherish them while they last!

RK