When Will it Rain?

Saturday (September 7th) marked the 33rd consecutive day without any measurable rain at the airport in Moline.  We did receive a trace of rain on August 7th---one month ago.  Either way you slice it, drought conditions are not getting any better.  This ranks as the 5th longest dry streak in recorded QC weather history!  Will we break that record?

Looking at the latest guidance, we do have a slight chance of rain along a cold front by the middle of the work week.  The question is; Where? When? How much?  Here is a comparison between 4 different models.  The bottom two and top right are all valid at 1am Wed. morning.  The top left is an older run of the ECMWF (European) model, showing the best chances of rain around 1pm Wednesday.  As you can see, all four models are not exactly in agreement on how much rain we will get, as well as when & where it will occur.  The CBS4 weather team will keep you updated as the system gets closer.  As for the long range (8 to 14 days out)?  Here's what the Climate Prediction Center has to say:

Prior to the front moving in, temperatures will soar back into the lower and mid 90s to start the work week.  Once the front moves through (rain or no rain), temperatures will cool back into the 70s by next weekend, which will be quite the refresher!