Forecasters say the summer-like weather will have a last hurrah over the next couple of days before we fall headlong into the more seasonable chill of autumn, with a frost and freeze likely early next week. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, with the National Weather Service office in Des Moines, says Iowans are in for a temperature rollercoaster over the next few days.
Just last weekend, many Iowa communities saw high temps in the mid-90s. This weekend, though, it’ll definitely feel like fall as a cold front is expected to arrive late Friday.
Iowa’s first frost is tracking right on target, Cogil says, as next Tuesday is the 15th of October.
Cogil says the weather pattern that produced both hurricanes Helene and Milton in the Gulf of Mexico is having a continued impact on Iowa’s climate, too.
A new map is due out later this morning from the U-S Drought Monitor. The map from last week shows only about six Iowa counties have no significant moisture problems, while around 70-percent of the state is abnormally dry, with 23-percent of Iowa in moderate drought, and portions of Harrison and Monona counties in western Iowa under severe drought.
