It's been an interesting month across our area. Some spots like Benton and Polk counties have received between 3 and 5 inches of rainfall; however, many locations throughout the River Valley have been short changed with under an inch of rain.


Over the last week, our weather pattern has been pretty consistent with the jetstream well to our north, and a cutoff low moving across the central plains. This low has now been reduced to a wave of low pressure depicted below at 500 mb. (18,000ft) Notice how the upper level winds shift direction in response to this disturbance.

We're looking for warmer temperatures to build back in throughout the rest of this week. The upper level pattern will feature a dominating ridge of high pressure to engulf the central part of the country, and notice the wind flow takes on an Omega block shape, which means the pattern will not change rapidly; moreover, this ridge will allow for temperatures at 850 mb to warm between 20 and 23 degrees, which will ultimately push surface temperatures into the upper 80s and low to mid 90s toward the weekend. Enjoy the rain while we have it!