The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

TODAY

After a chilly start to the day, temperatures are rebounding nicely this afternoon. Highs will top out in the middle to upper 60’s with plenty of sunshine! It will be a great day. Winds will be gusty in the afternoon out of the north and northwest 10-20 mph gusting to 25 mph.

A cold front moved through the area this morning. There was little moisture associated with it. We just noticed a few clouds and a change in wind direction to the north. High pressure will move in to the north of the area this afternoon.

High Pressure usually means we have several partly to mostly sunny days in store with little or no precipitation. Air tends to sink near high-pressure centers, which inhibits precipitation and cloud formation. This is why high-pressure systems tend to bring bright, sunny days with calm weather. And this will be the case as we head into the next few days.

By this evening clockwise flow around High Pressure will allow cold air from Canada to filter in tonight. That will allow temperatures to fall into the upper 20’s and lower 30’s tonight. On Tuesday High pressure will be just North of us and for Tuesday night, we can expect the coldest temperatures with lows in the mid to upper 20’s across the area.

TWO NIGHTS OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES

Frost will be likely over the next two nights and likely a freeze. The best chances for a freeze will be the further north you head into Iowa. Freeze watches are already out for our Iowa counties and I expect frost advisories and freeze watched to be extended into Northeast Missouri later today and/or for Tuesday night.

For a look back at the difference between a frost advisory and freeze warning as well as our average last date for frost, refer back to my previous blog post: http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=739412

FIRE DANGER

Dew points will continue to be low today as winds increase and temperatures rise. There will be an elevated fire danger over the next two to three days. With high pressure to our north and warm temperatures, the air is very dry. Relative humidity values will be between 20%-40% over the next few afternoons.

Evaporation will be extremely high with the low humidity and gusty winds. This will begin drying out soils. While temperatures will be in the upper 60’s today, it will feel cooler then it actually is due to the very dry air evaporating any moisture on your skin, which will translate to a cooling effect.

In the next post, I will talk about a midweek soaker that could last into the weekend. We stand the chance for significant rain Thursday-Saturday. Also, I will lead into the weekend when we could start seeing warmer temperatures returning into the 70’s.

-Brian