It's Official -- Drought Conditions Worsen

The new drought update from the U.S. Drought Monitor is out and just as I talked about in yesterday's blog, the dry conditions are getting worse across the Midwest.

Here is the map of the Midwest showing that "abnormally dry" conditions (yellow) have increased from 45% coverage last week to 51% this week. 

More critical on this map how is "moderate drought" has expanded from 8% last week to 25% this week.  .

And, 4% of the Midwest is now in a "severe drought".

In Iowa, the drought situation is worse than it is in Illinois.

The entire state is "abnormally dry" and 60% of Iowa is now in a "moderate drought" compared to 35% last week.  22% (mainly across central Iowa) is facing a "severe drought".  Last week, no part of Iowa was in that category.

In Illinois, 68% of the state is "abnormally dry" (yellow) and 21% is in the "moderate drought" category.  Last week, it was at 0% for the "moderate drought".

We could see a few scattered showers Friday evening and Friday night and, again, Sunday.  However, no widespread beneficial rains are in our ten-day forecast.

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples

Good News/Bad News

After a record high of 97° on Wednesday (beating the old record by 1 degree) there's some good news in the forecast as far as the temperatures go!  It seems most (but definitely not all) people have now had enough of the late summer heat and humidity.  After a few more days of the blazing heat things will cool down dramatically next week!  And it looks like once we get a little deeper into September temps might actually dip BELOW AVERAGE!  Here's a temperature forecast for September 5-11th...

A big cooldown coming up...

On the other hand we could desperately use some rain, but it looks like there's plenty more dry weather in tap for the Quad Cities....Here's a rain forecast for the next 7 days from the WPC...

Less than 0.50" of rain

And another outlook from the CPC showing a good chance of below normal rain for September 5-11th also!

A Record Dry Month Possible In Burlington

We've been talking quite a bit lately about the lack of rainfall in the Quad Cities.  We've only picked up 0.76" of rain in August at the Quad City International Airport in Moline.

However, the situation is worse over southeastern Iowa.  So far, in August, Burlington has only picked up a trace of rain!  The last measurable rain there was back on July 30, 2013, when 1.20" fell.

While there's a very slight chance of a shower or two across the Mississippi and Illinois Valleys in the next ten days, if it doesn't rain in Burlington by midnight Saturday, that trace of rain will go down as the driest August on record there.

If it doesn't rain in the Quad Cities by midnight Saturday, this will be the 9th driest August on record.

As you can see from the U.S. Drought Monitor dated August 20, 2013, we were already in the "Abnormally Dry" category.  Since no rain has fallen since then, we'll likely move into or closer to the "Drought - Moderate" category when this is updated Thursday morning.

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples

A Closer Look at our Dry Streak...

Are you watering your lawn?

So it's now been 21 days since we had any measurable rain in the Quad Cities!  We aren't quite into top ten territory for consecutive days with no rain but we are closing in on that list!  Here's a look at the longest precip free stretches in recorded Quad Cities weather history...

# of days    Streak ended on:
1.  45          11/15/1952
2.  40          01/23/1944
3.  36          11/21/1999
4.  35          01/06/1940
5.  32          09/17/1893
6.  31          02/05/1919
7.  30          12/10/1904
t8. 28          07/10/1989
t8. 28          09/23/1979
t8. 28          01/19/1954


So we're at 21 days once Monday ends, and when you watch Ten at 10 tonight on CBS4 you won't see any rain chances coming over the next 7 days - if the forecast doesn't change we'll be into a tie for the 8th longest dry spell in QC history!  Full disclosure - there's about a 5-9% chance for rain this Wednesday and Friday, but those %s are a little too low to include on the 7-day forecast!

Almost Three Weeks Without Measurable Rain

We've now gone twenty days without measurable rain officially in the Quad Cities and it looks like we could go another week without any real chance of wet weather.

Our last measurable rain at the Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois, fell back on August 5th when 0.49" accumulated in the rain gauge.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms brought power outages to the "northwoods" of Wisconsin Monday morning, but that rain will stay away from eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois.

While there may be a couple of slight chances (20% or less) of showers Wednesday and Friday, it looks as though we'll remain dry through the end of the month.

As of right now, the 0.76" of rain that has officially been recorded in the Quad Cities puts this August as the 9th driest August on record.  For this August to stay in the Top Ten, we need to stay at or below 0.83".

CBS4 Meteorologist Anthony Peoples

Heat Advisory Issued

As the CBS4 weather team has been advertising for the last several days, a late-August heat wave is finally here.  The official high temperature Sunday at the Quad City International Airport in Moline was 90°--the first 90° temp since July 19th when the mercury rose to 95°--the hottest temperature this summer!

This summer's been a sharp contrast to last summer.  I was curious as to how many 90°+ days we've seen this summer compared to the brutally dry summer of 2012.  To this date in 2013, we've seen just 9 days of 90° or higher.  Summer of 2012 saw a whopping 41 days of 90°+ up to August 25th; 5 of those days saw temperatures above the century mark!

Temperatures will make their way into the lower to mid 90s Monday & Tuesday, which will be very close to record highs.  The National Weather Service has issued a "Heat Advisory" for many in the CBS4 viewing area.

The advisory goes into effect at Noon on Monday (8/26) and expires at 10PM Tuesday (8/27).  Factoring in the humidity, heat indices will be anywhere from 95° to 105°...on the higher end of that come Tuesday.

Be sure to drink plenty of liquids and keep an eye on the elderly and pets to make sure all is well.  Also, lather on the sunscreen because there will be no lack of sunshine!  For more heat safety tip, CLICK HERE.

Record High Temperatures Next Week?

Most of the summer of 2013 hasn't been too hot in the Quad Cities, but the end of August will be a different story!  We'll be close to record highs next week, as temps soar into the 90s for the last week in the 8th month of the year!  Wednesday, August 28th, will be very close to a record - the record high for that day is 96° and we'll top out around 95°!  It will definitely be worth watching...here are the record highs for most of next week...

Mon (26th) - 97
Tue (27th) - 97
Wed (28th) - 96
Thu (29th) - 97
Fri (30th) - 98
Sat (31st) - 98

And now the 7 day forecast...

And we won't be the only ones dealing with the late August heat...check out this forecast from the CPC!  Most of the upper Midwest will be in or near record territory! 

Summer Holding on Strong

Temperatures the last few days have been pretty warm across the area.  The humidity has also been an issue with dewpoint temperatures in the mid and upper 60s, making it feel like it's been in the mid 90s!

We have a weak cold front that will move through the area late Wednesday night and Thursday, which will give us a brief break from the heat with temperatures around average for this time of year.  However, a ridge builds back into the area this weekend, bringing with it some very warm weather.  Here's a look at the Climate Prediction Center's 6-10 day temperature outlook:

The latest data coming into the CBS4 Weather Center follows the CPC's idea.  Temperatures will warm back into the upper 80s by Saturday and back into the lower 90s by Sunday!  Summer weather is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Blue Moon, Yellow Moon

When you hear Blue Moon what do you think of?

A.  something that rarely happens
B.  an adult beverage typically served with an orange
C.  two full moons in 1 month
D.  4 full moons in one season

Believe it or not all of these are acceptable answers!  And tonight is an example of answer D.  We have a full moon and specifically it's the 3rd full moon of the season, so it's a blue moon!  Here's a little more from the wikipedia page about blue moons:

Using the Maine Farmers' Almanac definition of blue moon (meaning the third full moon in a season of four full moons, and where the seasons are marked by equal 3 month intervals between solstices and equinoxes as opposed to calendar quarters), blue moons have occurred or will occur on

• November 21, 2010
• August 21, 2013
• May 21, 2016
• May 18, 2019
• August 22, 2021

And you can read the whole article here: Click on me.


On a related note - tonight's "blue moon" will actually look a little more yellow/orange than average!  That's because we have about 50 large wildfires raging out West, smoke and haze from those fires eventually filters overhead here in the Midwest.  That smoke/haze at high altitudes gives the moon a yellow/orange tint!

Let us know if you notice anything special! 

Amazing Phenomena in the UK

NASA has released amazing video of two rare events that happened in Scotland earlier this month.  "Noctilucent clouds" were visible throughout the night, and shortly after you can see the Aurora Borealis.  Noctilucent clouds are clouds that form in the highest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, called the mesosphere.  They are composed of tiny crystals of water ice and mostly occur in the summertime, which is when the mesosphere is at its coldest. The clouds sometimes form from dust particles, whether it be from a volcano or small meteors passing through the atmosphere.

While we get a little glimpse of the Aurora Borealis here in the Quad Cities from time to time, we are just a little too far south to witness noctilucent clouds.  They generally occur in the northern most latitudes.

To see the amazing video, CLICK HERE.  To have these clouds and the northern lights at the same time is quite a treat to the eye!