There wasn’t enough snowfall to give Iowa a white Christmas this year. National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says another color better describes the day.
“Certainly going to be a bit of a gray Christmas. Pretty damp and dreary there in the afternoon, for sure,” she says. Hagenhoff says there will be some unseasonably warm weather the rest of the week. “We’re looking at temperatures in the upper 30s to pushing 40 degrees. We’re certainly going to warm up after Christmas. As we get into the upcoming weekend, we could see temperatures pushing 50 degrees or warmer,” Hagenhoff says.
Snow isn’t in the long-term picture, but there will be some percipitation. “We do have a system that will come up on Thursday into Friday, that will bring chances for rain to the area, and perhaps another chance there on Saturday as well,” she says. “Thankfully, with the warmer temperatures we’re looking at, that being in the liquid form, which should make travel a little easier for anyone returning back to the area from holiday travels.”
The New Year may start out colder. “As we get into kind of parts of next week, temperatures may come down just a little bit. We’re looking at temperatures returning likely to the mid 30s, closer to normal, as we get towards New Year’s ,” she says. Hagenhoff says they’ll fine tune the forecast toward the end of the week to get a better idea of what we can expect to start the New Year.