THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT, AND MILD...
To start you off on a Thursday here's a cool picture that was sent to me by Steve Gottschalk ( a contributor to the site) from Lowden, Iowa. The image was sent to him from Ann Harms the owner of the Rock Shop in Clarence, Iowa. She captured these clouds north of Tipton about 5:15 Tuesday afternoon. It looks like some sort of cold air funnel developed due to steep mid level lapse rates. A tiny little updraft must have spun up and created the formation. Neat stuff considering the surface temperature must have been in the mid to upper 30s at the time. Don't you just love weather...
Wednesday was another cool day but we took a step in the right direction with highs that hit the mid to upper 40s, even the mid 50s in central Iowa.
My area was about 7 to 12 degrees warmer than 24 hours earlier.
In Mason City, Iowa the temperature reached 53. That's significant in the sense it was the first time above 40 degrees in 6 days and 10 hours. That' set a record for the longest such streak during the month of October. Skoal!
The big feature on the weather map today will be the remnants of hurricane Zeta and a southern stream disturbance that impacts the east with what promises to be a very wet day. You can see the scope of the energy and moisture on the satellite.
This all passes to the southeast of our region meaning subsidence (high pressure) for a dry day. However, temperatures will turn cooler again as winds shift northerly tapping into a chilly late October air mass. This also begins a period of what is likely be dry weather for a solid 10 days or so. Below you can see the GFS has no rain or snow through November 7th.
The EURO is essentially the same showing 10 day totals under .05"
Temperatures are going to be on the roller coaster. However, the way it works out it's good for Halloween and Election day. As stated, readings are down Thursday but with gusty winds and a strong return flow Friday warm air gets tugged northward and Halloween Saturday should see highs up around 60. The witches will need to hold onto their hats and brooms with a ghastly 30-35 mph breeze.
By Sunday another strong front is expected and temperatures turn sharply colder. However, this is a quick shot and by election day readings are surging again and should stay mild the rest of next week. Here's what the GFS meteogram looks like the next 10 days. Aside from warmth Halloween and Election day, focus on the remainder of next week. Some serious Indian Summer weather showing up there. Well deserved too!
All right then, that is all I have to say. Nothing like ending on a positive note. Have a fine day and roll weather...TS
