Weather Forecast

KCRG TV9 First Alert Forecast For Dubuque and the Tri-States

KCRG Weather Blog

Warmest Easter since 2014 on the way

Since the date of Easter moves around, the weather can go either way. This year, it’ll be going the warm way with highs around 80. As forecast, this will be the warmest Easter Sunday since 2014 when Cedar Rapids hit an official high of 81. Some areas were even warmer than that! Here are some other weather statistics for the Easter holiday, keeping in mind the date is different each year. Cedar Rapids Warmest high: 87 in 1925 Coolest high: 22 in 1894 Coldest low: 6 in 1894 Wettest: 1.25” in 1956 Snowiest: 0.6” in 1917 Dubuque Warmest high: 82 in 1946 Coolest high: 18 in 1894 Coldest low: 5 in 1964 Wettest: 1.50” in 1960 Snowiest: 2.9” in 1984 Iowa City - only about 25 years of data available, mostly since 1998 Warmest high: 82 in 2014 Coolest high: 32 in 2018 Coldest low: 18 in 1951 Wettest: 1.14” in 1950 Snowiest: Not available Waterloo Warmest high: 87 in 1925 Coolest high: 21 in 1940 and 1964 Coldest low: 6 in 1964 Wettest: 1.70” in 1992 Snowiest: 3.0” in 1960

Beyond the Weather: Lyrid meteor shower

The Lyrid meteor shower will peak next week. Late evening on Monday, April 22 to the morning hours of Tuesday, April 23 is the time to watch. Look to the northeast sky and find the constellation Lyra. At the top of this constellation is the bright star Vega. Make sure you are away from city light pollution. On a perfectly dark night, you will see 10 to 20 meteors per hour. However, moonlight will take away some of the views this year. The next meteor shower is the Eta Aquarids, which peaks on May 5. Happy stargazing!

Potential for severe storms Wednesday evening

The Storm Prediction Center is still highlighting southern Iowa for a risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday evening. The majority of the severe weather should be much farther south in Oklahoma and Texas. Isolated thunderstorms early Wednesday morning are not expected to be severe. Most of the day after that looks rain-free until late. By about 5 p.m. Wednesday, we should start to see scattered thunderstorms develop somewhere around the Interstate 35 corridor. Those storms will then move eastward through the evening and past the Mississippi by midnight Wednesday night. If storms do turn severe, hail appears to be the main risk. Gusty winds could also occur. At this time, the tornado risk looks very low.

Thunderstorms late Wednesday may produce severe weather

A couple of weather systems will bring us rain and thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday. Depending on how they track, there is a potential for strong to severe thunderstorms late Wednesday. At this time, it appears the main severe weather risk locally will be generally near and south of Interstate 80. If the warm front can get farther north, then that severe weather potential may expand northward, too. The main risks, if severe weather does develop, will be for gusty winds and hail. There is a low tornado risk with this system, but it will be a factor we watch. The main timeframe would be roughly between 5 p.m. and midnight. Again, the potential for severe weather locally will depend on how this system moves and will become clearer as we get closer.

A cool April pattern tends to be wet

As the cool air continues to linger across the Midwest, this tends to bring us a higher than normal chance of wet weather. One of the biggest reasons behind this is the warm, humid air condensing as it becomes forced into the cold air over the Midwest. Strong low pressure systems also like to hug the edge of the cold, which enhances our risk for additional rainfall. Next week, our weather will become active yet again as a large, slow-moving low pressure system impacts the Midwest. For us, this will probably be a cool rain.