Parts of parched Iowa are seeing welcome showers this morning, but the rain is scattered and not amounting to much that might ease the lengthy dry spell. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says much of southern Iowa will be seeing highs in the mid to upper-90s again today — and the heat is sticking around, even for northern Iowa.
“We’re going to see this warm weather continue today, in through the weekend and it’s probably going to build into next week,” Cogil says. “Temperatures today likely around upper 80s to around 90, staying that way through the weekend and into next week, likely into the mid-90s.”
The forecast calls for temperatures to be several degrees hotter across Iowa’s lower tiers of counties, prompting the issuing of another advisory. “Currently, we’re looking at a heat advisory across about the southern third of the state,” he says. “For this afternoon, we’ll see the heat index get up to about 105.”
In the category of it-could-always-be-worse, parts of next-door Nebraska set new high temperature records on Thursday well into the triple digits, including the town of Benkelman which hit 114 degrees.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City