099 FXUS63 KDVN 041859 AFDDVNArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 159 PM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Dry, warm and breezy conditions will lead to elevated fire weather concerns today and Sunday, especially for field fires.
- Rain is likely (60-70%) for much of the area between Sunday night and early Tuesday along a slow moving cold front, and will be followed by cooler, more seasonable early fall temperatures.
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.SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 158 PM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
The warm, and increasingly breezy warm stretch continues with high confidence, as the high pressure remains just to our east in the Ohio Valley through Sunday. The result for our area will be more of the same sunshine, and temperatures just under records for early October. Through 1 PM today, our temperatuers have risen to the mid 80s area-wide, and highs in the upper 80s remain on target. Though temperatures are rising as expected, so far, our dew points have remained in the upper 50s to low 60s, which has helped keep our RH in the upper 30s to mid 40% range. Our AG-GFDI values continue to represent "very high" values, but are a bit lower than earlier forecasts for today. We`re continuing the monitor for hot spots on satellite and radar. Winds tonight will remain around 10 mph for much of tonight, leading to another mild night in the lower 60s. This warm start will provide a near identical day Sunday for our CWA. Highs in the mid to upper 80s are expected, with stronger mixing expected with the approaching cold front into Iowa. Dew points may mix downward a bit farther than today, but still hold in the 50s for the entire area, resulting in afternoon RH values in the mid to upper 30% range.
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.LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... Issued at 158 PM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
Sunday night through Monday, our first decent chance for notable measurable rainfall will arrive as a slow moving cold front, with PWAT values of 1.3 to 1.5" shifts through the region. Models remain greatly varied on how they handle this period, especially the CAMs, but the ensemble data continues to show roughly an 80% chance for greater than 0.01 for our entire area in this period, with some 10- 20% chance for an inch of rain, mainly northwest of Cedar Rapids to Dubuque. For most areas this is not going to be a drought-buster, but still, with chances for 0.25 as far southeast as the Quad Cities around 60%, this is a decent chance for a wetting rain. With the event a few days out, please stay tuned for further refinement.
Monday will be a challenging temperature day, as the front will bisect the CWA around mid day, and cloud cover will be widespread. Highs in the lower 80s southeast to mid 60s northwest are expected for now, but this too could chance with the exact placement of the front, and any convective outflow that could lay along it.
While not a hazardous period, Tuesday through Friday will represent one of the more anticipated periods in recent times, as we`ll finally turn the air conditioners off again following this recent stretch of Fall Heat. Highs in the 60s to 70s, with lows in the 40s Tuesday and Wednesday nights (50s Thurs / Fri nights). Open up those windows and say "ahh". That pattern will be brought to us by a large, but progressive Canadian high pressure. Looking a bit farther out, above normal air is set to once again spread over the region towards the weekend. That pattern could feature some threat for precipitation, as CPC day 6-10 outlook shows around a 33% chance for above normal precipitation in that period.
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.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 1204 PM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
Clear/VFR weather is expected through the period once again, with winds remaining south/southwest. Winds will be stronger through sunset, and again by mid day Sunday, as winds 10-14kts, gust to 20-25kts. Overnight, lighter winds out of the south around 10 kts are expected.
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.CLIMATE... Issued at 245 AM CDT Sat Oct 4 2025
Saturday October 4th Records
Burlington....91....1938 Cedar Rapids..91....1938 Dubuque.......89....1897 Moline........91....2005
Sunday October 5th Records
Burlington....89....2007 Cedar Rapids..90....2024 Dubuque.......87....1922 Moline........89....2024
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.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.
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SHORT TERM...Ervin LONG TERM...Ervin AVIATION...Ervin CLIMATE...McClure
NWS DVN Office Area Forecast Discussion