Thursday March 1st

(Blogger note: There will be no updates from 3/2-3/5, as I will be on vacation, updates will return next Monday)

Good Thursday bloggers and happy March!  Wow, I can't believe that it is March already!  Today is the official start of the meteorological spring (MAR-MAY).  So lets take a look at the forecast.  Today will be fairly quiet, with clouds hanging around until early afternoon.  This will keep temps lower than expected, so highs only in the mid 40s today instead of near 50.

While the weather will be quiet today, a more interesting forecast is in store for Friday.  Another spring type system is set to enter the area.  Just like the one we had on Tuesday night, there will be snow to the north and severe weather to the south.  Luckily for us, we appear to be caught in the middle again.  This will set us up for another soaking rain, with a few rumbles of thunder, and  a little bit of a wintry mix as the storm system exits to the east.  However over the past few runs, models are starting to take the Low a little further south, possibly bringing some light snow to the area.  The NAM has been the outlier for most of the week, putting the QCA in the 4"-6" range, and with more models dropping the track south 1"-2" seems more realistic.    Here is the GFS for Friday afternoon...

As you can see most of the precip will be maintained east of Iowa City, basically just skirting the area.  Here is a better way to picture it with the simulated radar for Friday afternoon...

So my current thinking for Friday is rain to start the day, changing over to snow with very wet and slushy accumulations of around an inch.  Here is a look at what other models are looking for snow accumulations by Saturday morning...

Once again the track of this storm will shift with each model run, but it is looking more likely that light accumulating snow will be possible by Friday evening.  So hang tight and check with KWQC for the latest weather forecasts.

Weather Video of the Day:

Here is video from Harrisburg, IL the damage left behind from an EF4 tornado.

-Kevin

kphelps@kwqc.com

.

Month Long Detailed Outlook:  (updated 2/20)

 MARCH 4TH - 10TH

Temps will be on a roller coaster ride this week, warm to start then a cool down by the end of the week before a chance for rain and snow arrive.

MARCH 11TH - 17TH

Big system to start the week and colder temps.  Temps will return to near average by midweek and stay there.

MARCH 18TH - 24TH

This week looks active with rain chances to start the week and a big warm up towards the end of the work week.  This week could bring our first severe storms of the Spring season.