Dry and Comfortable Summer Afternoons Followed by More Rain Friday

Temperatures Wednesday warmed into the mid and upper 70's, following a chilly start in the morning.  Clearing skies Wednesday night will allow temperatures to once again fall into the low 50's by the start of Thursday.

High pressure overhead Thursday afternoon will keep skies mostly clear through much of the day.  Cloud cover will be on the increase Thursday evening and night, ahead of a warm front that will move into eastern Iowa by Friday morning.  Ahead of the front, heavy rainfall and embedded thunderstorms will develop, moving into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin by daybreak Friday.  Most of the rain will be to the east by late morning, with a little more dry time for the afternoon.  Cloud cover sticks around and this will hold temperatures in the mid 70's throughout the day.

By Friday afternoon and evening, stronger thunderstorms will be possible over eastern Iowa and southwest Wisconsin, especially if skies clear out following the rainfall in the morning.

Further east, there remains a threat for isolated showers/storms for the start of the first Friday night high school football games.  But it looks like an increase in some of the rain may actually occur late Friday evening, after 9pm.