The first day of Autumn is still 22 days away, but plenty of Iowans had to close their windows and throw a quilt on the bed last night — and some likely switched on the furnaces. One Iowa city hit a new record low temperature this morning, while several cities came close. Brad Fillbach, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Johnston, says it was quite chilly overnight.
He says Mason City had a new record low of 38 degrees, breaking the old record of 40, which was set in 1967. Many communities in northern Iowa saw upper-30s overnight while southern Iowa had more temps in the low and mid-40s, well below the norm for late summer. Fillbach says the end of August saw temperatures well under average for the month, following a July that was the coldest Iowa July on record. He says warmer weather should be returning soon.
He’s expecting warmer highs that may reach 80 by the weekend. It was just a few weeks ago, Iowans were sweltering in the upper 80s and lower 90s.