Afternoon temperatures this Thanksgiving Day ranged from the lower 70s in southwest Iowa to the mid-50s in the northeast part of the state. According to the National Weather Service, most locations in Iowa reported high temperatures in the mid-60s.
Craig Cogil is the meteorologist doing Thanksgiving Day duty at the National Weather Service office in Johnston.
“Strong southerly winds brought in a warm air mass from the southwestern United States,” Cogil said shortly after five o’clock, “and it produced the temperatures that we saw, well up into the 60s and lower 70s, especially in central and western Iowa.”
The temperature in Des Moines hit 66 at three o’clock, setting a new high temperature mark for November 24.