


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Quad Cities, IA IL
Issued by NWS Quad Cities, IA IL
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569 FXUS63 KDVN 260801 AFDDVN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 301 AM CDT Thu Jun 26 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A heat advisory has been issued for much of the area this afternoon into early evening. The heat and humidity will continue through the weekend. Some relief may occur next week. - Strong to severe storms will again be possible late this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds from wet microbursts is the primary risk. - With a wet pattern across the area and a daily risk of showers and thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rainfall, area rivers are expected to see rises. Refer to the hydrology section for more information. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 259 AM CDT Thu Jun 26 2025 The LLJ is very weak and mid-level lapse rates are fairly stable. As a result, quiet but humid conditions will be seen through sunrise. The exception is the Highway 20 corridor where an errant shower or thunderstorm might occur. Hot and humid conditions will be seen across the area today. A heat advisory has been issued for a good chunk of the area. Dew points will drop somewhat during the day as deeper mixing is promoted through wind gusts this afternoon. Mid-level lapse rates continue to remain fairly stable during the day. Some weak diurnal cumulus may develop from thermals this afternoon. Attention then turns to the approaching cold front. The hi-res models have been suggesting a pre-frontal trof well in advance of the front which is suggested in the current observations in the Plains. Several of the hi-res solutions have a line of scattered storms developing along the pre-frontal trof with a secondary line along the cold front. Although there are differences between the hi-res models, timing suggests late afternoon/evening for the pre-frontal storms in eastern Iowa. Most areas east of the Mississippi will remain dry into the early evening but a few isolated diurnal storms cannot be ruled out. The storms moving into eastern Iowa late afternoon/early evening would have the best chances of being strong/severe. If severe storms develop, the primary risk is damaging winds in the form of wet microbursts and heavy rainfall. Tonight the stable mid-level lapse rates east of the Mississippi suggests storms will struggle and weaken as they move east. Storm dynamics will modify the mid-levels of the atmosphere with time allowing storms to move east of the Mississippi later tonight. The trailing cold front will also aid in another round of storm development in eastern Iowa that moves east of the Mississippi well after sunset. However, this second round of storms has the potential to be more scattered in nature. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 259 AM CDT Thu Jun 26 2025 Friday through Monday Assessment...Very high (>90%) of heat and humidity continuing. The cold front moving through the area late Thusday night and Friday will push temperatures down to around normal on Friday. The heat and humidity builds back in for the weekend with Sunday being the hottest day. This far out there is a 50% probability of heat headlines for Sunday. Rain chances are more questionable. The proximity of the front to the area on Friday indicates this day has the best chances of seeing some rain. The front looks to stall out and dissipate Friday night just south of the area. If the front does stall just south of the area, the remnants of the front would provide a focus for mainly diurnal showers and storms across the far southern areas on Saturday but coverage would be in the 20-30% range. With the heat dome back into the area for Sunday, the question becomes will a weak upper level disturbance approaching the area generate diurnal convection. The model consensus suggests this with a 40% scattered coverage Sunday afternoon/evening. An approaching front on Monday (associated with the pattern change aloft) raises questions regarding the rain potential. Several deterministic model runs suggest very little in the way of rain. However, there are several members from the respective ensemble runs that generate rain. Thus the model consensus is biased toward the ensembles but the areal coverage for any rain is only 20-40%. Monday night through Wednesday Assessment...medium (40-60%) confidence on near normal temperatures. Low (<25%) confidence on rain chances The pattern change to west northwest flow aloft will help keep temperatures around or slightly above normal. With the heat dome suppressed southward, the more tropical moisture that would fuel storms is not present. Thus the deterministic model runs and nearly all of their respective ensemble members have dry conditions Monday night through Wednesday. However, there are weak disturbances in the flow aloft moving through the area Tuesday and Wednesday. Thus I cannot fully rule out the possibility of a rogue convective storm developing during the diurnal heating cycle on Tuesday and Wednesday. If this were to occur, areal coverage would be under 10 percent. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1235 AM CDT Thu Jun 26 2025 The low level jet is weak at 25 knots. That combined with stable mid-level lapse rates raises the question if nocturnal convection will occur. Based on data available, areas along/north of the Highway 20 corridor appears to be favored through 12z/26. After 12z/26 daytime heating will push density altitudes to or above 3kft. A pre-frontal trof will initiate convection that moves into eastern Iowa after 21z/26 bringing a risk of TSRA before they fall apart. More SHRA/TSRA can be expected with the cold front after 05z/27. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 655 PM CDT Wed Jun 25 2025 Tributary rivers in east central Iowa are having a minor crest into early Thursday from earlier week rainfall, and then should see a temporary drop. Bouts of rain through Thursday night over central to northeast Iowa (i.e. headwater regions of the Cedar, Iowa, and Wapsi Rivers) will see water gradually come down the channel and additional rises by late weekend into early next week. Confidence in that general, slow-evolving expectation is fairly high. However, in terms of how high of water levels reached next week, that is much lower. That is due to uncertainty on where exactly the heaviest rain will fall with each bout through Thursday night, and timing of the water as it is channeled in upstream rivers channeling into the Cedar River. For now, we continue Flood Watches on the Cedar River, even though flood stage currently is not probable in the next 48 hours, and more so late in the weekend into next week. A main reason we continue the watches are that heavier rainfall could fall southeast of where it is predicted through Thursday night, and there are multiple models (albeit a minority of model membership) that do show that. The predicted response on the rivers with those 10-15% of higher models show a couple points on the Cedar River, including Cedar Rapids, jumping all the way to major flood stage late in the weekend into early next week. The greater model membership would favor upper end minor stage to lower end moderate stage for the city, and coordinating with the North Central River Forecast Center (NCRFC), that is where we collectively felt most comfortable with the forecast. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...Heat Advisory from noon today to 7 PM CDT this evening for IAZ052-053-064>068-077-078-087>089-098-099. IL...Heat Advisory from noon today to 7 PM CDT this evening for ILZ009-015>018-024>026-034-035. MO...Heat Advisory from noon today to 7 PM CDT this evening for MOZ010. && $$ SHORT TERM...08 LONG TERM...08 AVIATION...08 HYDROLOGY...Friedlein