THE WEEKEND LOOKS "GROOVY"...

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the weekend, I produced a podcast on the 2020 derecho for the Des Moines Public Library that I thought I would share with you. My host Aaron Gernes and I discuss this exceptional storm from a variety of perspectives and attempt tp define its historic place as one of Iowa's most impactful weather events . If you want to hear the program just click on the banner below.

THE WEEKEND LOOKS GROOVY

When I walked out the door Friday morning it was readily apparent that our weather was back in a smooth groove thanks to the passage of a cold front. While if won't feel like October, the front has some fall like characteristics, particularly the dry air that will be over us this weekend. Dew points have already dropped significantly and by Saturday morning are expected to be in the upper 40s far north to the 50s elsewhere. That's way down from the 75-80 degree range they've resided in since last weekend. Look at all the 30s showing up in Minnesota. Fall is stirring.

Notice too how the water vapor that drives the dew points has gone from levels over 2 inches to just over 1/2 inch behind the front. That's 4 times lower than Thursday and a level you would expect to see in September.

Another little fall preview will be the low temperatures we experience Saturday. Readings will be well into the 50s and it's possible some of the valley's in my NW counties may see spotty lows of 48 or 49.

With abundant sunshine the dry air will warm nicely and after fresh starts Saturday and Sunday morning, highs will rebound into the low 80s in the afternoon. With light winds it all adds up to a near perfect weekend of weather.

I still have places, mainly in my central counties in Iowa that would love to see some rain. However, the dry air will dominate for the next 5 days keeping the region dry through mid-week The Euro ensemble control shows this for rain totals through Wednesday morning and I have no argument with its idea.

The latest drought index doesn't show a lot in the way of change from the previous week aside from a small expansion of the dry conditions into some of my counties north and west of the Quad Cities.

Here's a tighter perspective of Iowa showing how moderate drought extends NW of a line from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids and near Dubuque. Some good rains did fall in my counties surrounding HWY 20 so some improvement may be noted in parts of that area in the next report. Severe to extreme drought still extends across much of the northern 1/3 of the state.

An area that is really struggling for rain is Minnesota. Almost 80 percent of the state is experiencing severe drought with 42 percent reporting a least extreme drought conditions. 7 percent of Minnesota is experiencing exceptional drought and for the state as a whole this is the worst drought since 1988.

We can be thankful we don't have the problems our neighbors to the north are dealing with. We can also be appreciative of the fine weather that's on the table this weekend. The dog days have lost their bark! Enjoy it and by all means roll weather...TS