543
FXUS63 KDVN 060904
AFDDVN

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
304 AM CST Fri Mar 6 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Areas of fog are possible early this morning, which could
  become locally dense.

- Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected through the
  mid to late morning, hail is possible with the strongest
  cells.

- Thunderstorms are likely late this evening into the overnight,
  with a continued level 2 out of 5 risk of severe storms with
  all hazards possible; damaging winds are the primary threat.

- Breezy and warm today with near record high temperatures in
  the 60s to lower 70s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
Issued at 230 AM CST Fri Mar 6 2026

A slight positively tilted shortwave trough is forecast to
eject out of the Central Rockies and shift into the Central
Plains to Upper Midwest today into tonight. At the surface, an
elongated area of low pressure near 1004mb will track through
central Iowa toward the northern portion of Lake Michigan,
strengthening to around 1000mb. This system will advect an
anomalously warm and moist air mass into Iowa and Illinois with
highs in the 60s and 70s and dewpoints set to reach the upper
50s to lower 60s, with PWATs reaching near 1.30". Persistent
WAA/isentropic lift and embedded impulses within the
southwesterly flow aloft will lead to occasional rounds of
scattered showers and thunderstorms from early this morning
through tonight. With that said, there will likely be extended
dry periods in between the more robust rounds of
showers/storms. With the very moist air mass in place,
especially by early March standards, heavy downpours are
expected with any storms which could drop a quick 0.50"+ of
rainfall in a short time. This event will bring much needed
rainfall to the area with 0.50 - 1.50" possible on average by
early Saturday AM. Areas that get hit by repeated rounds of
storms could receive 2"+ of rainfall as indicated by the HREF
LPMM QPF. This is favored to the north of I-80 and again would
occur on a more isolated basis.

SPC has maintained a Slight Risk (Level 2 of 5) for severe
storms across the outlook area through tonight. Based on the
latest CAMs, and also taking into account the surface low
placement and timing of the cold front from the global models,
it appears the most likely timing for strong to severe storms
for the outlook area is during the late evening into the
nighttime hours. Surface-based convection is likely to form well
to our west over SE Nebraska into SW Iowa during the late
afternoon and early evening, near the surface low and attendant
cold front. This activity is expected to quickly grow upscale
into one or two dominant segments and approach the west to
northwest counties tonight (approximately between 7 - 9 PM). The
main concerns are strong wind gusts of 60+ mph, isolated large
hail, and possibly a few spin up tornadoes associated with
northeastward surging segments (0-3 km bulk shear is forecast
between 30-40 kts, oriented to the NE). To reiterate, the main
timing for severe storms appears to be from late this evening
into tonight, roughly between 7 PM to 1 AM. However, isolated
strong/severe storms could develop out ahead of the main line
during the late afternoon and early evening and move into the
far southwest to west-central counties, which is a lower
confidence scenario but something to watch for. For late tonight
(after 1 AM), the convection will likely become less organized,
yet given ample instability and shear isolated strong to severe
storms will remain possible as the cold front pushes through
from west to east.

&&

.LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
Issued at 230 AM CST Fri Mar 6 2026

The weekend will start off on the cool side with temperatures
falling through the morning hours behind a cold front and then
afternoon temps hold in the 40s to low 50s. A nice day is
expected on Sunday with highs in the 60s, plenty of sun, and
breezy southwest winds between 20-30 mph. The warmth will build
early next week with 60s to lower 70s forecast for much of the
area! Another cold front is set to move through later Tuesday
into Tuesday night, bringing chances for scattered showers and
thunderstorms. Temperatures look to remain above mid March
normals through late in the week.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1220 AM CST Fri Mar 6 2026

Widespread low clouds across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois
will lead to prevailing MVFR with periods IFR possible overnight
into Friday. Fog does not look to be as prevalent as the
previous few nights; however, patchy dense fog is still possible
late into early Friday morning -- favored at BRL and MLI.
Attention then turns to several rounds of scattered showers and
thunderstorms that will impact the terminals. The first round
is expected between ~09Z-15Z/Friday, with additional rounds
possible Friday afternoon/evening and again into Friday night.
The morning round of rain will likely be accompanied by IFR
ceilings before conditions improve to MVFR/VFR for portions of
the afternoon/evening.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Issued at 1222 PM CST Tue Mar 3 2026

Record High Temperatures:

March 6:
KBRL: 73 in 1910
KCID: 73 in 2005
KDBQ: 69 in 2000
KMLI: 73 in 2005

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...None.
IL...None.
MO...None.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Uttech
LONG TERM...Uttech
AVIATION...Uttech
CLIMATE...Gross