It’s the middle of March and we’re waking up to wind chills near zero or below zero after our recent snowstorm.
Milder air is on the way for the rest of the week into the weekend and early next week. We’ll see highs in the 40s and 50s and some hometowns may even reach 60° by next Monday.
But, for now, we’re still dealing with the aftermath of the snowstorm that started Sunday night and moved out early Tuesday.
Officially, 6.1″ of snow accumulated in Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois, picked up 5.9″. My forecast was for 5-7″ of snow for the metro area.
For the winter, we’re still below average on snowfall in the Quad Cities. However, we’re slightly ahead of where we were at this time last winter.
22.4″ is the official total for the Quad Cities in Moline this winter. Davenport is up to 25.2″.
As of late Sunday afternoon, light snow is falling across central Iowa.
Snow will spread into eastern Iowa this evening and into the Quad Cities and across the Mississippi River by 8-10 p.m.
The heaviest of the snow will fall late tonight and early Monday.
I’m still good with my morning snow total forecast. Some locations may be off by an inch or so. But, if we get into that ballpark range, I’m good with the prediction.
Much colder air will move in with the freshly fallen snow. Lows by Wednesday morning could drop into the single digits!
Warmer weather returns by the weekend.
I’ll see you bright and early Monday on “Local 4 News This Morning” from 5-7 a.m. with the latest on the winter storm.
Anthony
ORIGINAL POST: Sunday, March 12, 2017, 5:23 a.m.
Moderate to heavy snow is on the way to eastern Iowa and northern Illinois later Sunday into Monday.
A “Winter Weather Advisory” goes into effect Sunday evening and will run through Monday evening.
The storm system that’ll bring us the snow is located over Montana early Sunday. This clipper will quickly race southeastward to south-central Iowa by Monday morning and to near St. Louis, Missouri, by midday Monday.
Since the heaviest of the snow usually falls to the north of the low pressure system, the Mississippi and Illinois Valleys are primed for the biggest snow of season since early December!
TIMING
Light snow will break out across the Midwest today and spread into eastern Iowa by late Sunday afternoon.
This snow will reach the Quad Cities and the Mississippi River by evening.
Snowfall will become moderate overnight into early Monday morning. There will be periods of heavy snow around daybreak Monday.
By midday Monday, the heaviest of the snow should be south of us. However, light snow will continue into Monday evening and end Monday night.
BIGGEST SNOW SINCE EARLY DECEMBER
This storm system will be the biggest the area has seen since December 4, 2016, our first snow of the season.
That day, 10.2″ of snow fell in Davenport, Iowa, and 7.8″ accumulated in Moline, Illinois.
In the three months since then, Davenport has only picked up 8.9″ of snow and Moline saw 8.7″!
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS
Here are my forecast snotals (“snow totals”) for Sunday evening through Monday evening.
So, just find your hometown and that’s how much snow you’ll be shoveling!.
Again, the heaviest of the snow will fall Sunday night and early Monday.
I’ll have another update later this afternoon and let you know if anything changes.
Here’s a quick update for Sunday and Monday’s snow event.
A “Winter Storm Watch” goes into effect Sunday evening through Monday evening for the counties shaded in blue. This includes the Quad Cities. It’s basically for counties along and north of Interstate 80.
A “Winter Storm Watch” means that conditions are favorable and confidence is building for significant snow accumulation. This is the time to prepare.
It’s usually the case that this “Watch” will become a “Winter Storm Warning”, a “Winter Weather Advisory”, or a “Snow Advisory” before the snow starts to fall tomorrow.
The latest data Saturday evening is coming in snowier, so I’ve upped the snow totals for some hometowns, especially across the north.
I’ll have another update Sunday morning.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Anthony
ORIGINAL POST: Saturday, March 11, 2017, 5:30 a.m.
“Mother Nature” definitely makes life interesting.
After the second warmest February on record in the Quad Cities with six straight days of record highs of 69°-74° and two tornado outbreaks in Iowa and Illinois in the past two weeks, “Snow Miser” blasts back into area later Sunday into Monday.
A clipper system will drop through the Midwest Sunday afternoon and Monday bringing moderate snow to the area.
It’s likely the Quad Cities will see more snow with this system than what accumulated in January and February combined! (We only picked up 2.7″ of snow in Moline, Illinois, and 2.6″ in Davenport, Iowa, so far, in 2017!)
Parts of Iowa are already under a “Winter Storm Watch” for Sunday afternoon through Monday evening. I expect watches and advisories to cover eastern Iowa and northern Illinois before the snow event begins.
This forecast is based on Saturday morning data and I’ll continue to update this throughout the weekend, as needed.
Snow will break out across eastern Iowa later Sunday afternoon. That snow will likely reach the Quad Cities by midnight.
This is the forecast map for 6 a.m. Monday. Notice the tightly packed lines around the low-pressure system. That means it’ll be windy, so we’ll have to deal with blowing snow, too.
Snow becomes lighter later Monday as it spreads south and east across Illinois.
The snow event ends Monday night even though a few stray flurries are still possible Tuesday morning.
Here are the snowfall amounts I’m forecasting. Keep in mind that these numbers could shift north or south this weekend as newer information comes in. I’ll adjust my forecast accordingly.
So, just find your hometown and that’s how much snow you’ll have to shovel. The kids may finally get to build a “snowperson” and go sledding after a boring winter without much snow!
The good news is that the first half of the weekend will be quiet to give you a chance to get your errands done!
I hope the stores stocked up for the run on milk, eggs, bread, and toilet paper! (I guess “Bumble” can’t be trusted with fragile eggs!)
Finally, while I don’t believe in the fairy tale of “Punxsutawney Phil”, the Pennsylvania groundhog that predicted six more weeks of winter, some people do (I’m looking at you, James!)
When the snow starts flying later Sunday, it’ll have been 5 weeks and 3 days since “Phil” saw his shadow and made his snowy forecast — just inside the “six more weeks of winter” window! 🙂
Updated Snow Details: Friday, March 10, 2017, 4:10 p.m.
The snowstorm for Sunday evening into Monday night looks much more potent. I’m now thinking that we could easily see 3-6″of snow with that storm!
We’ll know much more this weekend and I’ll have another update Saturday morning.
Original Snow Details: Friday, March 10, 2017, 6:15 a.m.
The last two winters in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa were lame.
Snowfall amounts for the season were well below average and a far cry from the 65.1″ of snow we saw in the winter of 2013-2014. That was the second snowiest winter on record.
It snowed all the time that winter!
The first system late Friday night and early Saturday morning could drop up to an inch mainly to the southwest of the Quad Cities.
We’ll see a more widespread snow Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, and Monday. This one could blanket the area with three inches or more.
I’ll continue to update you this weekend when the data is better once the storm comes ashore from the Pacific.
There could finally be some winter weather and cold — in MARCH!
SILENT OSCAR PROTEST AGAINST AFFLECK
Last week, I reviewed “Manchester By The Sea” (I gave it an “B”). The movie earned Casey Affleck the Oscar for Best Actor.
Before he walked away with the gold statuette, there was speculation that two sexual harassment allegations against him in 2010 would cause Academy voters not to vote for him. (Both cases were settled out of court.)
As you probably know, the previous year’s Best Actress announces the new Best Actor category.
When Brie Larson (“Room”) announced Affleck as the winner, she handed him the trophy and envelope without clapping or hugging him.
Larson, who is an advocate for victims of sexual abuse and played one in her Oscar winning role, told Vanity Fair, “I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself.”
She added, “I’ve said all that I need to say about that topic.”
REMEMBERING TOMMY PAGE
If you were a New Kids on the Block fan in the late 1980s, the name Tommy Page may ring a bell with you.
Before he was a music industry executive, he was a teen pop star. While he gained exposure with “A Zillion Kisses”, it was 1990’s “I’ll Be Your Everything” that topped the Billboard Hot 100 with back-up assistance with several members of NKOTB.
Last Friday, Tommy was found dead of an apparent suicide. He was 46 and is survived by his partner, Charlie, and their three kids.
I saw him open for the New Kids in 1988 in Du Quion, Illinois and I saw him again at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1990.
R.I.P. Tommy
“MARIAH’S WORLD”
I’m not a fan of reality television, but I finally broke down and watched my first full reality show for two reasons — it was only eight episodes and it was Mariah Carey.
“Mariah’s World” took us backstage during Mariah’s European “Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour”. It was also during this time that Mariah was engaged to billionaire James Packer.
If you followed that story, you know how it ended. But, in “Mariah’s World”, you see how it unfolds.
Yes, the series was over-the-top and many times you get the impression that the drama was played up for the cameras! Shocking!
It’s great to see more of Mariah — her humor, her thoughts, and her insecurities. It did sadden me to think that she’s such an icon that she seems out of touch with the world, at times, because she can’t experience things that the average person can because of her celebrity.
It also cracked me up that Mariah would be interviewed lying on a chaise lounge in very sexy negligee and it was funny to see her wheeled down the corridor back stage on a chair to go on stage.
One final note that I came away with is that Mariah loves her champagne and wine. We’d get along fab-lamb-ulously!
LIONEL RICHIE-MARIAH CAREY BUMMER
When Lionel Richie announced his “All The Hits Tour” with special guest Mariah Carey, I immediately snapped up tickets for Nashville, Tennessee, in May.
This would give me a chance to take a road trip and eat at my favorite restaurant, Patti’s 1880s Settlement in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.
A few weeks ago, the tour was postponed because Lionel’s knee surgery recovery was taking longer than expected.
Those plans are cancelled now! Nashville was one of a dozen cities that was dropped when the new summer dates were announced. Others include Saint Paul, St. Louis, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh.
While I know that Lionel had surgery and the recovery may have taken longer to heal, it’s also very clear that ticket sales were very “soft” in many cities and Lionel and Mariah would have been playing to half-empty venues!
It won’t be this time, but I still want to be one of those “Dancing on the Ceiling” with Lionel.
And, I still long to share “Emotions” and a “sweet sweet fantasy baby” with Mariah! Maybe in December in New York at her annual Christmas show?
“HACKSAW RIDGE”
This Mel Gibson-directed motion picture was nominated for six Academy Awards this year including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Andrew Garfield.
While it didn’t win any of those, it did win two Oscars — Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
Whether you’re a fan of war movies or not, this one is phenomenal.
The first half of the movie focuses on character development and is even a cute love story.
Oscar nominee Garfield is adorable and awkward as Desmond Doss, especially when he meets a nurse at the hospital after his quick thinking saves a man’s life.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Doss enlists to fight for his country, but because of his religion and the commandment “thou shalt not kill”, Doss refuses to carry a gun. He went to war to save lives and take them.
Needless to say, this doesn’t go over well with his superiors.
The second half of the movie is a full-on war movie. It’s gory and heartbreaking, but realistic and amazing.
Garfield and Teresa Palmer are incredible.
GRADE: A
“MOONLIGHT”
After this year’s Oscar debacle when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope and “La La Land” was announced as Best Picture, when it was actually “Moonlight”, the little seen, but well received movie got more press than it could have without the mix-up.
The little movie that could, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards, ended up not only winning the biggest prize of the night, but it also earned Mahershala Ali (“House of Cards”) the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, making him the first Muslim to win the gold statute.
It also won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“Moonlight” also became the first LGBT movie to win Oscars’ biggest prize (that honor should have gone to 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain”) and the first movie with an all-black cast to win Best Picture.
“Moonlight” tells the story of a poor, lonely Miami kid, Chiron, with a drug addicted and abusive mother. One day, while hiding out from bullies, the kid befriends a drug dealer (Ali), who nicknamed him “Little”.
The movie is played out in the three chapters of Chiron’s life: childhood, teenager, and adult. It’s a beautiful and sad “coming of age” story.
All three actors playing Chiron were great. However, I think Trevante Rhodes, as adult Chiron (nicknamed “Black”) stole the show with his vulnerability, loneliness, and withdrawn look at life.
You just wanted to wrap your arms around him and tell him it’ll be okay. That has nothing to do with the fact that he was gorgeous and had the physique of a Greek God.
Ali was good in his short time on screen, but it’s a shame that Rhodes wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actor!
“Moonlight” was so brutally honest in its portrayal of life on the streets and life as an outsider.
A must see!
GRADE: A
TREVANTE RHODES EXTRA!
“EDGE OF WINTER”
Don’t bother!
I’ve been a fan of Joel Kinnaman since “The Killing” and I like him on “House of Cards”.
Tom Holland was great in the tsunami-survival movie, “The Impossible” and he’ll be the next Spiderman in this summer’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming”.
However, this movie doesn’t do anything for either actor or me.
Kinnaman plays a down on his luck father being visited by his two sons, while their mother and new husband are away on a cruise.
Well, a simple trip into the wilderness to practice shooting goes astray and not everyone comes back.
The premise and the trailer makes more sense than the movie.
GRADE: C-
ONE MORE TOMMY PAGE
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
A powerful line of storms raked across the Plains and the Midwest Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning.
These storms held together and brought tornadoes and damaging winds to much of Iowa and Illinois.
At least 32 tornadoes were reported to the Storm Prediction Center Monday.
We had many tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings across the Mississippi and Illinois Valleys with tornadoes reported at the Davenport Municipal Airport, near De Witt, and Grand Mound in Iowa and near Ladd, Illinois (Bureau County).
Once the sun comes up Tuesday, we’ll see just how much damage was done by the long line of straight line winds.
We had wind gusts of 70 miles-per-hour reported in several hometowns and an 83 mile-per-hour wind gust near Davenport.
Except for breezy conditions and a few isolated showers Tuesday evening to the north, quiet weather is expected through Friday.
However, we could be looking at a winter storm that’ll bring accumulating snow to the area Friday night and Saturday.
This will have to closely watched as we head toward the weekend.
After another balmy day with highs near 70° in the Quad Cities, conditions are favorable for severe storms tonight with damaging winds being the biggest threat. We could also see large hail and a few tornadoes.
A “Tornado Watch” remains in effect through 10 p.m. for much of Iowa. This includes our western counties of Jefferson, Johnson, and Washington.
The line of strong to severe storms is firing up over western and central Iowa this afternoon. This radar image is from around 4 p.m.
This line of storms will race across Iowa and should be in eastern Iowa by 8-10 p.m. and east of the Mississippi around midnight.
I’ll continue monitoring the situation and let you know if the “Tornado Watch” is expanded eastward to include more of our counties and the Quad Cities.
If severe storms are not your thing, it’s looking more and more likely that we could be in for a decent accumulating snow starting Friday night into Saturday.
This is the latest GFS forecast map for noon Saturday!
I’ll have more on that tomorrow and the rest of the week.
Let’s get through tonight first.
Anthony
ORIGINAL POST: Monday, March 6, 2017, 5:37 a.m.
Very warm temperatures are in the forecast again today with highs approaching 70°.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that we could be seeing a repeat of last Tuesday’s weather with severe storms later today.
Like last week, the biggest threat from the severe storms later this afternoon and early tonight will be damaging winds of 60 miles-per-hour or higher, large hail, and even a few tornadoes.
A line of storms will be forming across central Iowa this afternoon and will be moving into eastern Iowa by evening.
That line of storms will be crossing the Mississippi River by about 10 p.m.
The threat of severe weather should exit our eastern hometowns by midnight.
Temperatures will remain mild through Thursday in the 50s.
However, winter may return later Friday into Saturday.
It’s possible that we could be seeing an accumulating snow to kick off the weekend.
There’s plenty of time to fine tune the forecast for the snow this upcoming weekend.
But, the big story today is the severe weather threat later this afternoon and early tonight.
It’s already the first week of March and for the winter weary (even though in the Quad Cities, the winter hasn’t been bad at all), it’s officially “meteorological spring”.
That’s the three months (March, April, and May) sandwiched between the three coldest months of the year and the three hottest of the year.
So, enjoy that and my Random Friday Thoughts.
FOUR YEARS ALREADY
This past weekend, Facebook alerted me through its “On This Day” feature that I started my new position on “Local 4 News This Morning” four years ago! Time sure does fly.
When I posted that as my status update, the outpouring of kind comments was heartwarming. Thank you all so much for following me down the road in the Quad Cities as I continue to do what I love and something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child.
But, it wasn’t the four year announcement that got a few people to thinking, it was this line that started off the post, “As we travel down the road of life, we sometimes know where it’ll lead. At other times, the unforeseen detours make it more exciting.”
Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
One of my close friends sent me this, “…lately I’ve been having a feeling you may be leaving broadcast weather, or debating doing so…So upon seeing your anniversary post, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see an announcement that you were moving on to a different challenge.”
So, that got me to thinking and two things came to mind.
I’ve always been upfront in my daily correspondences with family and friends, in my blog, and on social media. At times, I’m too brutally honest (a fault, I know — it’s that “tone”)!
Kidding aside, when there’s something new to disclose, you know I’ll share it with you. I’m just honored that some of you really care.
I appreciate that and the feelings are mutual.
AND THE WINNER IS…. NO, WAIT…..
Remember back in 1993 when Marisa Tomei won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “My Cousin Vinny”?
There are still people today that believe the wrong name was announced and to save face, a correction was never made. (By the way, Tomei has been nominated two more times since in the Best Supporting Actress category!)
True or not, the climax of the 89th Annual Academy Awards was definitely suspenseful.
Legendary actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced that “La La Land” won Best Picture.
Well, the winner of Best Picture was actually “Moonlight”!
As the “La La Land” team was making its way on stage, the error was realized and the correct winner was announced. Awkward!
According to Beatty and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm that handles Oscar voting and the envelopes with the winners, the presenters were handed the envelope for Best Actress, which was won by Emma Stone of “La La Land”.
Sounds logical, but here’s where it gets fishy!
Best Actress Stone, who had just picked up her Oscar, says “I also was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time.” Stone adds, “I don’t mean to start stuff but whatever story that was, I had that card, so I’m not sure what happened.”
But, the snafu might make sense! In a 2016 interview, PricewaterhouseCoopers says it makes duplicates of every card. So, Stone may have had hers and the other one was accidentally handed to Beatty and Dunaway.
Leave it to Hollywood for the drama.
“BIG LITTLE LIES”
Since I don’t have HBO, I’m bummed that I have to wait to see “Big Little Lies”, the seven-part series starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, and Alexander Skarsgaard when it comes to DVD.
It’s based on the Liane Moriarty book, which I just read!
I loved that you got almost to the end of the the book before you find out who was killed and who did it. Now, that’s great storytelling and suspense.
Once I finished the book, I finally checked out the trailer for the series.
Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that I’m not surprised that the locale moved from Pirriwee, Australia in the book to Monterrey, California, for the series.
I also can’t wait to see the HBO series to find out more about the gun you see in the trailer. I sure don’t want that to be the method of “murder” since the book’s cause of death is much more potent and highly unexpected than a gunshot!
It’s a great, catty, powerful read.
BARBARA BUSH
I have a confession to make.
When Barbara Bush was the “First Lady” of the United States (1989-1993) and even the eight years that she was the “Second Lady of the United States” (1981-1989), I wasn’t a fan.
There was just something standoffish about her. It was clear to me that she loved her family, but I just didn’t feel the warmth was genuine.
After reading her book, “A Memoir”, I’ve changed my views quite a bit. I still think she’s a force to reckon with and I still disagree with her on several things, but that’s part of life.
She is more down-to-earth than I gave her credit for and she accomplished so much in those twelve years.
However, she did say some things that sound so odd today (keep in mind that the book came out in 1994) and very politically incorrect.
But, Ms. Bush gets brownie points with me when she talks about whether or not she thinks the American public likes the First Lady to be front and center.
She writes, “Hillary Rodham Clinton is certainly very much a part of her husband’s decision-making process. She seems much the stronger of the two. Does it make him seem weaker? I am afraid that when problems or controversy occur, and they will, the finger will be pointed at Hillary.”
How prophetic!
It’s great seeing her and former President George H.W. Bush out in public whenever they make appearances these days.
She’s now 91 and he’s 92 (both have June birthdays) and they’re now the the oldest living President and First Lady.
My favorite Commander-in-Chief Jimmy Carter is less than four months younger. He turns 93 on October 1st.
I still have another Barbara Bush book to read, “Reflections: Life After the White House”(2003).
And, as I’ve stated before, my favorite Bush family member is former First Lady Laura Bush.
I still want to meet her one day!
YOUTH SUICIDE RATES IN UTAH
I’m getting caught up on some magazines stacked in my bedroom and I came across an eye-opening fact in a couple of them.
In “Out” (September 2016), it was reported that in Utah, suicide is the number one cause of death for kids ages 10 to 17.
How sad is that!
MORE STARTLING FACTS
In “The Advocate” (June/July 2016), I read these startling facts from John T. Cacioppo, director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago:
Living with obesity increases the odds of an early death by 20%
Excessive alcohol consumption increases the odds by 30%
Loneliness increases odds of an early death by 45%
Damn! This means some of us aren’t going to live anywhere near forever!
“I DON’T WANNA LIVE FOREVER”
I’m just a bundle of happiness today! 🙂
Maybe this is the perfect time to share my favorite song out right now — Zayn and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” from the “Fifty Shades Darker” soundtrack.
“MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
Casey Affleck won the Best Actor award at the Oscars last weekend for his role in this Best Picture nominee.
Affleck was incredible in character, but his character had no likable characteristics.
He plays a Boston janitor with many issues and you learn more of them as the movie goes on.
He’s called home when his brother has a fatal heart attack and he’s asked to raise his teen-aged nephew. That’s not a spoiler!
Michelle Williams plays Affleck’s ex-wife and is only in a few scenes, but a couple of them were very emotional and earned her an Oscar nomination.
Lucas Hedges played Affleck’s nephew and he’s incredible. He has some very funny lines that are still rooted in pain. There’s one scene where he doesn’t speak, but his facial expressions and reaction speaks volumes.
Hedges was also nominated for an Oscar, but didn’t win.
GRADE: B
“ARRIVAL”
I love Amy Adams and she was great, as always, in this science fiction movie.
I also like sci-fi, too, but this one didn’t blow me away.
While the movie was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (Adams didn’t get a nomination), neither deserved it.
Adams plays a language expert grieving a personal loss and she’s asked to decipher the language of aliens that have landed in different ships around the world.
It just didn’t gel me and I didn’t get excited about the fate of the world or the aliens.
GRADE: C+
ONE LAST BARBARA BUSH NOTE
One thing that resonated strongly while reading “A Memoir” by Barbara Bush is her response to late actress and two-time Oscar winner Shelley Winters (“The Poseidon Adventure”, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, “A Patch of Blue”, and “A Place in the Sun”).
An upset Winters called the First Lady during “Desert Storm” and wanted President Bush to enact some war act restricting the press from telling all.
Ms. Bush writes, “I tried to explain to this extremely agitated woman that if the President were to do as she asked and put a ban on the press, the hue and cry from one and all would be deafening.”
I agree.
So, where is that deafening cry from one and all today with #45???
Resist!
THAT’S IT
With all the craziness in the world, make it the best in your little part of it!
After the record warm day Tuesday with a high of 69° in the Quad Cities, a strong cold front brought strong to severe thunderstorms to the Mississippi and Illinois Valleys.
At least 24 tornadoes were reported to the Storm Prediction Center Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening.
One of those was in Clinton County, Iowa, just north of the Quad Cities, near Low Moor.
Several tornadoes were reported in La Salle County, Illinois, about an hour or so east of the Quad Cities. At least one person was killed and one injured near Ottawa, Illinois.
Near Kewanee and Galva, Illinois, in Henry County, there were several reports of large damaging hail. Some of the hail was larger than golf balls.
The weather today, tomorrow, and Friday will be colder with highs closer to average for early March around the low-40s.
We could see a light wintry mix of rain and snow later today, but a more potent clipper moves through tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night.
This could bring 1-2″ of snow to the north later Thursday and around a dusting to around one-half of an inch in the Quad Cities.
Warmer temperatures are on the way for the weekend.
UPDATED POST: Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 11:13 a.m.
It’s now looking like that there’ll be a widespread severe weather outbreak across Illinois this afternoon and evening.
Here’s the updated categorical risk from the Storm Prediction Center.
That large area of “moderate” risk in downstate Illinois is rather ominous since it wasn’t on the earlier update at 7:37 a.m.
For the Quad Cities and our part of Iowa and Illinois, we’re still under the “slight” to “enhanced” chances of severe weather this afternoon and evening.
Our biggest threat will be wind damage, followed by large hail.
But, there’s still a chance of a few strong tornadoes in our area.
As of this update, there are no watches in effect.
I’ll keep you updated as needed today.
Anthony
ORIGINAL POST: Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 5:05 a.m. (Map updated at 7:37 a.m.)
A storm system will bring us record or near record warmth today and then our first real severe weather threat this evening and early tonight.
A warm front associated with that storm moved through eastern Iowa and the Quad Cities earlier Tuesday morning with non-severe storms.
High temperatures today will warm into the 60s to near 70°. The record high in the Quad Cities today is 66°. That was set just last year.
Interestingly enough, our record low for today was set two years ago at -18°. What a difference a year makes!
With unseasonably warm temperatures in place this afternoon, strong to severe thunderstorms will be breaking out across Iowa and Illinois as the cold front arrives.
These storms could bring large hail, damaging winds, and even a few tornadoes, especially east of the Mississippi River. This threat will last through the evening hours.
Tomorrow, as colder air comes in, the rain showers could mix with or change over to light snow.
What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random! 