Thursday, December 13, 2012

Rain and thunder likely Saturday

While there's still a lot of progress that needs to be made in the rainfall department, this weekend's storm system will help some.  Low pressure moving onshore in central/southern California later tonight will quickly move northeast into Kansas by Saturday morning.  With more of a northwest track expected we'll remain in the warm sector of the storm with rain, not snow, falling through the majority of the weekend.  Winds will remain from the south Friday night and Saturday pulling in copious amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.  Latest model runs are depicting anywhere between a half an inch to near an inch of rain across Iowa and northern Illinois by Saturday night.  There may also be a few thunderstorms that develop south of here and lift north by Saturday morning and continue into the early afternoon which could aid in some of the higher rainfall amounts.

By Saturday evening the low will have moved into Wisconsin as dry air wraps in from the southwest in the mid-levels of the atmosphere likely cutting off the heavy rain with only drizzle lasting into the night.  By the time the cold air moves into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin the majority of precipitation will have already fallen with only a light rain/snow mix expected by Sunday.  A few wrap-around flurries could continue into Sunday night but no accumulation is expected.

The pattern will remain active going into next week with another system expected to develop by midweek.  But as with past storms this looks to be a warm one as well.

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