It could be worse...

Temperatures were once again below average for April standards in the Quad Cities on Saturday.  We reached a high a 51°, which is ten degrees below the average of 61°.  Temperatures will warm up to 70° on Sunday, but that will be short lived as we have a cold front that will move through the area Sunday evening with showers and thunderstorms and will cool down our temperatures.  However, it could be much worse!

The low pressure system that will bring us the showers and thunderstorms Sunday is bringing wintry precipitation to our friends in northern Minesota and North Dakota.  The map above is the National Weather Service's watches and warning map.  The purple color indicates a Winter Weather Advisory and the lighter pink (in the north) indicates a Winter Storm Warning.  The areas shaded in the purple can expect 1 to 3 inches of snow, with the possibility of freezing rain.  Freezing rain totals are expected to be on the order of 0.15 to 0.25 inches.  The areas shaded in lighter pink are expected near blizzard conditions with snow accumluations anywhere between 7 and 14 inches!  How about that for a late spring snowstorm?

Back here at home we could see a half an inch to three quarters of an inch of rainfall out of this system, and even more rain is expected through Thursday!