Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Quad Cities, IA IL

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253 FXUS63 KDVN 240229 AFDDVN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 929 PM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Heat to temporarily return early this week, with high confidence in 90s for highs south and west of the Quad Cities on Monday, and then a higher ceiling (mid 90s) and with heat index readings (around 100) on Tuesday, but uncertainty with any morning thunderstorm residual effects - Potential (30-50%) for semi-organized thunderstorms late Monday night into Tuesday morning mainly north of Highway 30, with higher confidence in thunderstorms late Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night especially along and south of I-80 that would pose at least a scattered heavy rain and severe threat (risk level 2 out of 5). - Rivers expected to rise through midweek from upstream rainfall last week and possibility of heavy rainfall on Tuesday and Tuesday night (25% chance of exceeding one inch). && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 255 PM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 High pressure of 1013 mb will scoot over the area tonight. Warm air advection (WAA) aloft will already be resuming overnight and will likely result in some clouds developing late into early Monday morning. Cannot rule out patchy fog (~10 percent chance) in northern locations late tonight, even though not climatologically favored, just due to wet ground and forecast lows a few degrees below current mid 60s dew points. Gauging by HREF and RAP solutions, any clouds early Monday morning should depart northeast of the area as the low-level thermal ridge builds back in. Forecast 850 mb temperatures by mid-afternoon are 21-22C, and with full sunshine and southerly winds, would not be surprised if a few locations in southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri tag 94-95 degrees for a high. Dew points are not forecast to have climbed much from the mid 60s yet, so heat index readings are forecast in the upper 90s. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 255 PM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 The Plains upper level ridge will start to be dampened some again on Tuesday as a strong, slightly positively-tilted trough tracks across southern Canada into the eastern Great Lakes region. The quasi-zonal flow atop the ridge will be unsettled, with a lead impulse Monday night over the Upper Mississippi Valley. The primary synoptic front will be dragged southeastward over the area on Tuesday afternoon and evening by the deep (sub 990 mb) low north of the Great Lakes. This is the most favorable synoptic signal for thunderstorm coverage and potential hazards. For Monday night into Tuesday morning, confidence is highest in warmth, with southerly winds of 10-15 mph not allowing much temperature drop at all. Lows look to solidly be in the 70s (likely to fall just short of record warm mins for the calendar day Tuesday, June 25). Along the still strengthening front in Minnesota into western Wisconsin on Monday evening, convection should develop over a several hour period. Orientation of shear vectors to the front is oblique to perpendicular, so it may take a while to grow upstream into an organized convective complex. However, most CAMs support an organizing morphology with 50+ kt of mid-level flow during peak low-level jet time. Thickness diffluence and Corfidi vectors support a southeast propagation of cold pool-driven, organized convection, and could mean thunderstorms moving into the northern to northeastern CWA after midnight. Wind would be the primary threat if this evolves, along with possibly a localized flood risk with any backbuilding activity on the far southwest edge of such a convective feature that would be over our already wet north CWA. Influences of convection, even if its just a northerly wind shift with rain-cooled outflow, will have effects on convective evolution for Tuesday afternoon and evening. This naturally lowers the confidence on convective details. Despite that, given the warmth and moisture resulting in substantial instability combined with the synoptic scale cold front moving in, thunderstorms are likely (>60%) to redevelop along and south of the general I-80 zone and evolve east-southeast. This may include our entire CWA too, but again depends on details from Monday night. The less influence on late Monday night/Tuesday morning, the more of our area that should see Tuesday afternoon and evening thunderstorms. The heat on Tuesday will be part of the fuel for any thunderstorms on Tuesday. Using NBM membership, there is 40-60% chance of exceeding 95 degrees south of I-80, and with 850 mb temperatures of 22-25C, that certainly is in play using climatology for 95+ degree days in our region. Also acting as fuel are precipitable waters around two inches (upper 5th percentile), setting the stage for precipitation-loaded downdrafts and potential flash flooding issues. Shear vector orientation with respect to the front or any outflow-associated boundary is forecast to be more oblique, and can see a clustered convective evolution possible. As noted in previous AFD, the forecast Corfidi vector orientation indicates training, slow- moving storm potentail as well, but again confidence is on the lower end on where that may be in our CWA late in the day and throughout Tuesday evening. Currently forecast potentail for rainfall to exceed one inch is 15-25 percent from west to east across the CWA. Beyond, the temperatures will ease back to normal Wednesday and Thursday, before the GFS and ECMWF and a large membership of their ensembles provide a return to a more active pattern. There is a signal for a deeper synoptic scale system closer to our latitude in the Midwest late in the week, which would mean severe and heavy rain potential and the CSU machine-learning probabilities already hint at these too. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 630 PM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 VFR conditions are expected through the TAF period with periodic SCT-BKN clouds 5-8kft agl. Northwest winds around 10 kt will become light and variable after sunset into early Monday morning, with the transitory passage of weak surface high pressure. By Monday afternoon south to southeast winds will increase to over 10 kt, with occasional gusts around 20 kt at CID and possibly DBQ. && .HYDROLOGY...
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Issued at 929 PM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 No significant changes for the Cedar River basin this evening with the new forecasts. The rise on the Cedar River at Cedar Rapids has been slowed some and still may reach 14 ft or Moderate flood stage early Friday. For the Mississippi, flood watches have been converted to flood warnings for Dubuque Lock and Dam, Camanche, and Rock Island Lock and Dam sites this evening. Additional warnings can be expected in the coming days. .Previous Discussion. The Mississippi River is expected to reach flood stage at multiple locations, including the Rock Island gage, by the middle of this week. Long term we expect the Mississippi to reach Moderate and/or Major flood stages the week of the Fourth of July, with the crest at the Rock Island gage possibly reaching just over 18 feet early on the Fourth of July. However, a larger margin of error should be taken into consideration when forecasting precipitation amounts and locations in the 7-10 day timescale. Watches are currently out for most of the Mississippi River and warnings will follow in the next few as a clearer picture is drawn on what precipitation and routed water we have coming downstream. In the latest forecast package, we have opted to upgrade Gladstone and Burlington to a River Flood Warning, aided by the recent rainfall north of the area. The Rock River is also expected to reach flood stage in Joslin, with an increase noted into Action Stage at Moline. A River Flood Warning has been issued for Joslin in this latest forecast package, which is forecast to hit flood stage tomorrow afternoon. We will continue to see additional rainfall through this coming week, which may lead to further fluctuations in the river levels. If heavy rainfall is seen, then increases can be expected.
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&& .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Friedlein LONG TERM...Friedlein AVIATION...McClure HYDROLOGY...Gross/Gunkel/Wilson