The 1st Round of Storms is Done.. Wait till Monday Night!

A relatively narrow higher dew point moisture channel has been focused directly into the the Stateline in advance of a slow moving cool front over eastern Iowa by a strong low level jet stream. There have been some areas with moderate amounts of rainfall. There has been some large hail associated with severe thunderstorms moving eastward out of Iowa across the Quad Cities into Whiteside county. Morrison in Whiteside county reported hail to an inch and a half. Muscatine Iowa reported I" hail. As of 9 pm there have been no reports of large hail in the Stateline area counties, and there will not be any severe weather in the area tonight. The showers and are ending from the west, and skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. The cold front will sag toward the southern tip of Illinois by morning, and become stationary briefly before it becomes a warm front, and starts moving back toward the north. With low pressure developing over the plains a strong low level southerly moisture laden jet will develop pumping vast amounts of Gulf air up and over the northward liftting warm front. After an early morning with some sunshine it will quickly cloud over again, and some thunderstorms will spread into areas south and west of the Stateline during the afternoon. As the front continues it's northward movment into northern Illinois on Monday night severe storms will be possible along with heavy rains that will persist through the night into Tuesday morning. On Tuesday it looks like the front will continue lifting off to the north putting our region in warm gulf air with temperatures reaching well above normal into the upper 70's. The front will be nearby, though, so there may be more thunderstoms during the day.

A cold front will slip slowly eastward on Tuesday night renewing the threat of more severe thunderstorms overnight. The storms will finally come to an end early on Wednesday, but showers will linger on Wednesday into Thursday as cooler air settles in.  The high pressure moving into the area mid and late week will be of Pacific origin, so although it will be cooler,  temperatures will still be near or slightly above average Thursday, Friday, and Saturday under mostly sunny skies.
by Meteorologist
Eric Nefstead

Watching the storms

6:45pm Update: Storms continue to move to the east into Sterling and Dixon.  Watch for gusty winds, heavy rain and possibly hail.

6:10pm Update:  Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Whiteside county until 7pm.  Watch for heavy rain and hail as this storm moves to the east. 

5:30pm Update: Storms continue to push off to the east, south of I-88 this evening while general rain moves to the north across Northern Illinois.  There are some storms in Northeast Missouri and Southeast Iowa that need to be watched through the evening.  As of right now, there have been no other watches or warnings issued.

3:30pm Update:  The Storm Prediction Center has issued a Tornado Watch for the counties of Carroll and Whiteside until 11pm tonight.  Storms are beginning to develop just south of the Quad Cities along a weak boundary and are moving northeast.  Hail and heavy rain remain the primary threats, although an isolated tornado can't be ruled out.

1:00pm: Look for a couple showers this afternoon as a cold front approaches from the west.  We'll likely see them increase later in the afternoon and evening.  Moisture isn't too abundant at this moment, but with southerly winds gusting we may begin to see dew points rise through the afternoon and evening.  As the front approaches, storms will likely develop as moisture becomes a little more available.  We'll continue to monitor the weather through the afternoon.  The Storm Prediction Center does have most of the WTVO viewing area under a slight risk with hail and damaging winds being the primary threat.  Be sure to keep checking back for the latest information.

Light rain showers

Rain showers continue to lift off to the north/northeast this morning.  Just look for a steady light rain, especially east and south of the Rockford area.  The rain should be out of here by the afternoon - just leaving mostly cloudy skies by the evening.  Sunday should remain dry, but we could see some more rain move in Sunday night into Monday.

Rain moving in

The storms that produced strong winds in Eastern Iowa this afternoon are now beginning to move east across the Mississippi River.  While we're not anticipating any severe weather this evening, gusty winds and heavy rain might be possible as the storms continue to roll through.  This is a quick mover, so the rain should be out of here by Saturday afternoon.

Watching the storms

12pm Update:  The storms are quickly lifting north/northeast this afternoon already pushing through central Iowa.  The slight risk for severe weather has been extended up through eastern Iowa and includes Jo Daviess county and the western parts of Carroll and Whiteside county.  While the storms are weakening, strong winds may be possible as some of the storms move closer to the Mississippi River.  Look for more showers and storms to move in during the evening and overnight.

Mostly cloudy skies can be expected through the rest of the afternoon as a cold front continues to move east into Iowa and Missouri.  Watching a line of thunderstorms move through parts of Northern Missouri that produced wind damage in Eastern Kansas, Oklahoma and Western Missouri.  This line will continue to move off to the east and northeast through early afternoon.  We are under a general thunderstorm risk this afternoon while a slight risk for severe weather extends from the Iowa/Missouri border, through Arkansas and into parts of Texas and  Louisiana.  We are expecting some thunderstorms to roll through later this evening and overnight as the front passes.  While it doesn't look like it should be severe, don't be surprised if hail, gusty winds and heavy rain occur with some of the storms that move through.

Happy Anniversary...

...to the world's first weather satellite!  It was on this day back in 1960 the TIROS-1 (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL and opened a new dimension in weather forecasting.  The first image taken from the satellite was a fuzzy picture of clouds over the United States.  The next one, a couple days later, showed a typhoon off the east coast of Australia.  The TIROS-1 satellite, weighed 270 pounds and carried two cameras and video recorders.  Even though it only lasted 78 days, we are still seeing its impact today!  To read more on the TIROS-1 satellite, click here. 

Feels more like summer

Who else has been enjoying the nice weather the past couple of days?  Temperatures will continue to rise this afternoon with the mercury topping out in the low, to possibly, mid 80s this afternoon.  It will feel more like the beginning of summer rather than the beginning of spring.  Looking back at the records for today, the record high of 81° set back in 2003 could very well take a back set with temperatures forecast to reach 82°.  There is a lot of warm air a couple thousand feet up and if we can get enough mixing throughout the atmosphere we will surely be in the 80s.  Clouds continue to thin this morning so sunshine should be in full force by this afternoon!  What have you done to enjoy the nice weather?  Working in the garden, going for a bike ride, picnic outside...let us know!