083 FXUS63 KDVN 061743 AFDDVNArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 1243 PM CDT Mon Oct 6 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- A cold front will bring showers (40-70%) and a few storms to the area through tonight. The greater coverage is anticipated later today and especially tonight. This will not be a drought-busting rain, but our best chance in nearly 2 weeks at a wetting rainfall of 0.1 inch or more with pockets of 0.5+ inches possible.
- Cooler, more seasonable early fall temperatures settle in over the next 24 hours and persist into late week.
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.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 240 AM CDT Mon Oct 6 2025
Large footprint of banded showers and some storms is noted this morning immediately behind a cold front extending from eastern WI through central IA and southwest KS. A rainy cold front is usually an anafront, and that is the case this morning and bodes well for bringing our best chance at seeing measurable rain since Sept 23rd. In true anafront characteristics the rain/cloud shield is largely rooted behind the front and extends westward to the 850 hPa boundary. The initial shower activity has struggled to make much inroads into the service area due to drier air and waning low level Fgen. However, a more robust mid level Fgen band was organizing to our southwest from parts of southwest IA, southeast NE into KS and models track this Fgen band into our neck of the woods later this morning, so we should see some expansion or uptick of shower activity after daybreak through midday, particularly in areas north/west of the Quad Cities. We may see then a bit of a lull with some potential for pre-frontal scattered showers and a few storms this afternoon in parts of far eastern Iowa and particularly northwest Illinois, but confidence is somewhat low due to weak forcing and will be dependent largely upon sufficient destabilization in what looks to be a generally uncapped environment. Wouldn`t rule out some gusty winds and possibly small hail (similar to what was observed yesterday evening to our west) should any storms occur given ramping deep layer shear. Synoptic scale ascent will increase tonight attendant to the right entrance region of an upper level jet streak atop the surface cold front. This should bring about a greater coverage of showers and possibly a few storms this evening/overnight before tapering off early Tuesday morning. Rainfall will be mostly under 0.25 inch, but some pockets of 0.5-0.75+ inch are possible as hinted by 00z HREF 24 hr Localized Probability Matched Mean (LPMM) ending 12z Tuesday with PWATs climbing to 1.3 to 1.5 inches. This will not be enough to bring any drought relief, but it should help in knocking down the dust and putting a little moisture back into the plants.
High temperatures today will of course be very challenging with the boundary slowly progressing through the area. What is certain is that the coolest readings will be found in our northwest service area (greater coverage of showers and clouds) while the warmest readings will be in our east/south (longer duration of solar insolation). Some of the guidance supports potentially a 25 to 30+ degree gradient with readings possibly as cool as the upper 50s to lower 60s northwest and as warm as the mid 80s south/east. As typical the greatest challenge with highs will reside near the front and right through the heart of the service area.
Tonight we`ll begin to shut down the rain from north to south late as the cool air deepens. Skies may correspondingly begin to clear as well leading to cool lows in the 40s to around 50 north, while clouds and some rain chances linger through daybreak south resulting in lows holding up in the middle 50s.
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.LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 240 AM CDT Mon Oct 6 2025
A west-northwest flow pattern aloft is expected to dominate through the end of the work week, while at the surface high pressure shifts across the Great Lakes. This will bring a very refreshing and pleasant airmass on easterly flow with mainly dry conditions and seasonable early fall temperatures with highs in the 60s/70s and lows in the 40s/50s. Models do suggest some upper level energy may work down across the region toward Thursday into Friday, resulting in some low chances for showers. However, dry low level easterly flow lends to very low confidence on this potential.
Over the weekend, the ensembles generally support amplification of an upper ridge over the region. This should foster a nice warmup back above normal on temperatures with highs once again in the 80s.
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.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1234 PM CDT Mon Oct 6 2025
A cold front coming through the region will bring along the chance for showers and isolated storms. Best coverage will be seen after 03z, but isolated to scattered showers cannot be ruled out from 18z Monday and beyond. Lower cigs and vis can be seen in the showers/storms, with cigs down to 1000-2000 ft or less and vis between 3-5 SM. The shower activity will continue through tonight, decreasing in coverage from west to east after 06z. Winds will largely be northwesterly to northerly around 10 KTs. Thus, while we will see long periods of VFR conditions, we will see occasional reductions to MVFR/IFR through the forecast period, especially between 00-12z.
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.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.
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SHORT TERM...McClure LONG TERM...McClure AVIATION...Gunkel
NWS DVN Office Area Forecast Discussion