Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Warm Temps Return, Along with Rain and Storm Chances

After Rockford posted the 4th wettest March on record, rain has been a little scarce during the month of April. In fact, the airport has only recorded 1.27" of rain since April 1st, which puts us just over an inch below average. An unsettled weather pattern begins today that will bring several rain chances to the Stateline that extend into our weekend.

Before we get into the forecast, Happy Earth Day Stateline. Virtually supporting Earth Day with a lot of green in this blog post. A quick-moving disturbance that is currently residing over the South Dakota/Minnesota border brought a much different start to our day today. For those that stepped out the door this morning, they were most likely greeted by a few light sprinkles and light rain showers on their way to work. Fortunately, this activity has remained fairly light in nature. The rest of the morning does feature chance for an additional isolated shower or two, but the steadier and more substantial rainfall holds off until later in the afternoon.

Along with this disturbance is a warm frontal boundary that is draped over eastern half of Iowa. This front has caused quite the temperature difference across the Hawkeye State this morning, with upper 30s in Cedar Rapids, and mid 50s just to the west in Des Moines. As we progress into the afternoon, this frontal boundary will be the focus for not only how warm temperatures get across the area, but also for storm development. South of that warm front, temperatures should be nice and toasty in the 70s, while north of that front, highs may struggle to get out of the 50s.

Shower activity looks to pick after 3PM-4PM this afternoon, with heavier rain and t-storm potential by this evening. It would definitely be wise to bring the umbrella with you this morning, so that you have it ready to go when rain chances increase later today. This evening's storm activity seems to persist into the first half of our night tonight, as pockets of heavy rain and lightning are likely. There is also the potential for gusty winds with the stronger storms, but severe weather is still not expected.

A few spotty showers may linger into Thursday morning, but most of the day looks to shape up pretty dry. Northeasterly winds will pull an abundance of moisture off of Lake Michigan, allowing cloud cover to stick around, with a few breaks possible here and there by the afternoon. Highs are going to be a tad cooler, with most areas only getting into the 50s to near 60°.

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