There may be more than just frost on the pumpkin next week. We’re only a little over a month into fall, but forecasters say wide sections of Iowa could soon be looking more wintery — as snow may fly late Monday and into Tuesday.
Meteorologist Allan Curtis, at the National Weather Service, says any flakes that do fall won’t linger long. “The best chances for people seeing snow is going to be across the north and northwest,” Curtis says. “They may even see a little bit of those flurries stick to the ground through the morning. As you work toward the south and eastern portions of the state, things are going to be a little warmer so any flurries they see will quickly dissipate as the day goes on Tuesday.”
It’s the time of year when the weather does a lot of flip-flopping, and kids may be forced to wear coats over their trick-or-treat costumes. “It goes back and forth from fairly comfortable, like we’re going to see today in the 50s, to not quite as comfortable,” Curtis says. “Early to the middle of next week, right in time for Halloween, we’ll see a system push through and we’ll probably see highs struggle to reach the mid- to upper-30s, both Tuesday and Wednesday.”
The normal high temperature for Des Moines on this date is 60 degrees, so having highs only in the 30s is well below average. He notes, the first snowfall of the season can get some Iowans a little worked up. “We always want to stress to people, if you are traveling, even though it’s going to be some light flurries and snow, just take a little extra caution,” Curtis says. “People get excited when those events occur.”
The long-range forecast calls for a slight warm-up by next Thursday. Winter arrives this year on December 21st.