Winds diminish tonight, quiet and cooler this weekend, a storm to watch next week

Happy Friday everyone!

The winds have been howling out there today thanks to an area of low pressure just off to our east. This low pressure has quite the pressure gradient associated with it, which is leading to all the wind we have had since this morning. I hope no one lost their trash cans today!

Winds will diminish significantly this evening and overnight, remaining out of the northwest between 10 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 50 mph will remain possible through the evening. A WIND ADVISORY is in effect until 6:00 PM for most of our counties, with a HIGH WIND WARING in effect for Cerro Gordo and Hancock Counties until 6:00 PM as well.

Any lingering cloud cover clears, with temperatures dropping into the low teens. Wind chills will be close to 0F by early Saturday morning…welcome back winter!

Highs will only make it into the upper 20F’s to lower 30F’s Saturday. We will have plenty of sun, however, and winds much lighter, still out of the northwest between 5 to 15 mph. Winds eventually shift to out of the south Saturday night, with skies remaining mainly clear, and lows in the mid teens.

We warm up sharply on Sunday, with highs in the low to mid 40F’s across the area, under a mainly sunny to partly cloudy sky. Clouds increase on Monday, with highs in the upper 40F’s to perhaps low 50F’s.

Attention turns to a potential storm system next week Tuesday and Wednesday. There is MUCH uncertainty with regards to track and intensity of this system, and details are quite fuzzy, but here is what we know so far…

An area of low pressure will track across the central United States Tuesday into Wednesday, then into the Great Lakes region. As it does so, copious amounts of moisture will be transported north ahead of low, resulting in a chance for some precipitation.

Temperatures early next week will be warm enough to keep any precipitation as rain through Tuesday evening, but dropping temperatures behind the low Tuesday night into Wednesday could result in a transition to snow. How much snow will depend on the exact track of the low, something that is far from hammered out at this point in time.

Regardless, temperatures will be near 50F next Tuesday, then drop next Wednesday and Thursday. How much they drop will depend on how much snow we see. A lot hingers on what next weeks system does!

For the time being, this weekend will be cooler, but also pleasant with the sunshine and lighter winds! Have those sunglasses ready!