THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING

If you can remember back to March 15th, you might recall that many a Midwesterner was doing a rain dance for showers and storms that had mysteriously vanished from the weather scene. Going back to mid-September, rain deficits had reached 11 inches near Ottumwa, with many other parts of the region down by 8-10 inches.

Then the tide broke and the rains returned. The next thing you know, as much as 10 inches of rain had turned things soggy in East Central Iowa. You can see specific 5 week rain totals March 15th- April 30th as indicated by the Iowa Mesonet below.

That was a windfall for the area, as it eliminated the moderate to severe drought conditions that covered my local region. Here's the latest drought conditions as of April 28th, 2026.

That's a far cry from March 17th (below) when 50 percent of the Midwest was reported to be in either abnormally dry, moderate to severe, or in in some case...extreme drought. That's all gone today thanks to a months worth of beneficial rain.

A new weather pattern is taking shape that is likely to be significant lower on rain totals in the coming 2 weeks thanks to a pronounced NW flow aloft. In fact, this is what the EURO shows at 500mb a week from now.

That is stout configuration for May with 2 major remifications. 1: moisture is severely restricted across the Upper Wednesday for at least the next 10-12 days. Any disturbances in the pattern will be fast movers lacking the forcing to produce much in the way of precipitation. An abundance of old air aloft though, will drive clouds and scattered showers with clipper like disturbances sweeping through every 2-3 days.

2: Temperatures are a lock to end up below normal, especially on days when NW flow disturbances bring clouds and spotty showers. Over the 7 day period May 7th through May 14th, the EURO shows daily temperature departures of 9-10 degrees below normal. That definately puts a halt to the active severe weather period ot the past 3-4 weeks

Here's the projected temperature departures on the EURO the next 2 weeks. Thats a spring set-back for sure. Just look at all those 50s and 60s...yuk!

Meantime, I'm confined to the University of Iowa Hospital awaiting open heart surgery next Monday. I'm nervous, but at the same time confident in my team and surgeons plan. Thay have their work cut out for them! Roll weather...TS