via Radio Iowa
While some Iowans were out in t-shirts and shorts Wednesday afternoon mowing lawns, playing soccer and washing their cars, a drastic change in the weather is only a day away.
Meteorologist Alex Krull, at the National Weather Service office in Johnston, says the coldest air of the season is heading for the state and it will likely bring a dusting of snow for parts of northern Iowa. “Most of the impactful snowfall from this big system is going to remain over the Dakotas and portions of Minnesota,” Krull says. “We may have some grassy surfaces where the snow sticks for a little bit but we’re not expecting much more than a trace of snow in Iowa. The bigger story will be some of the overnight low temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning.”
Those low temps may dip into the 20s and lower 30s. Worse yet, Krull says wind chill factors will be coming into play, something that’s usually reserved for winter weather. “We’re expecting cold temperatures to move in as well as gusty winds,” Krull says. “Winds could be between 35 and 40 miles-per-hour, especially as we move from Friday into Saturday. That will be sending our wind chill temperatures down into the mid-teens and lower 20s for portions of southern Iowa.”
Parts of the Dakotas may see ten inches of snow from this system, but the forecast calls for mostly rain in Iowa. “For our Thursday, we’re looking at the chance for rain showers and thunderstorms to develop and they’ll be pretty widespread across the state,” Krull says. “Those will be ahead of the cold front and once those showers move to the east, the cold front completely pushes through, that’s when the colder air settles in. The coldest temperatures we’re looking at right now will likely be overnight Friday night into Saturday morning.”
Highs are expected to rise, slightly, by early next week.
