188 FXUS63 KDVN 121928 AFDDVNArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 228 PM CDT Fri Sep 12 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Hot and moderately humid conditions are expected this weekend into next week.
- Aside from some low chances for rain tonight, we have to wait until next week for some better rain chances.
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.SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 228 PM CDT Fri Sep 12 2025
The heat is on its way. A mid and upper level ridge is building over the Southern Plains and into the Middle Mississippi River area. A shortwave trough is currently rounding the top of the ridge, bringing a few showers and a stray thunderstorm from central Iowa north through Minnesota. This will continue to slowly progress eastward overnight before dropping south on the other side of the ridge toward morning. Seeing upstream radar echoes and a few rain reports has increased our confidence that we`ll get at least scattered showers out of this as it crosses our area tonight. A few thunderstorms are also possible as low level moist advection accompanies the passage of the mid level wave. Greatest chances will be in the east across northern Illinois.
The ridge expands northward on Saturday into Sunday and we`ll see some of the hottest temperatures of the year spreading into our area. NBM forecast highs have continued to come down, more in line with the rest of guidance in the low to mid 90s. Mercifully, we don`t have a lot of humidity to accompany this heat, so it won`t feel like the hottest day of the year. Dewpoints only in the low to mid 60s will bring the heat index up a degree or two over the air temperature, but staying largely below 100. With the modest increase in humidity we will see an increase in instability as well. We`re a bit unsure on the degree of capping we`ll see, but it remains possible that we see a few widely scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Wind flow will be weak, so anything that forms will tend to rise and fall in place fairly quickly, affecting only a small area.
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.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 228 PM CDT Fri Sep 12 2025
As we go into next week, multiple troughs to our west attempt to push back the ridge, but generally fail. The ridge holds firm over the Great Lakes through midweek before a trough finally breaks through on Wednesday or Thursday. So for the first half of the week we`ll be more under the influence of the ridge with summer heat continuing. Guidance has come into a bit better agreement compared to 24 hours ago on the idea that we will finally see a trough push into the area Wednesday into Thursday. So that gives us a clearer idea of when the heat will end and when we`ll finally see some more widespread rain chances.
Among the 00Z ensemble guidance, 60 to 80 percent of members produce measurable rain across our forecast area in the 24 hours ending Thursday. Those are the highest numbers we`ve seen in a while. NBM PoP is a bit lower still, mainly due to timing uncertainty and the general tendency for NBM to take a few cycles to catch up to an emerging consensus. So I`d expect these PoPs to come up a bit more in the coming few forecast cycles if this consensus continues and greater timing clarity emerges. While there`s not a clear signal for severe weather, I wouldn`t completely rule it out at this point. As the trough moves in we will see better southwesterly flow aloft ahead of it, increasing wind shear, and there will likely still be instability around in the waning days of the hot, moderately humid air mass. So there will at least be a few ingredients nearby and we`ll have to see if they line up in time and space to produce any significant threats.
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.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1208 PM CDT Fri Sep 12 2025
VFR conditions continue with mostly light southeast winds today. A shortwave trough rounding the top of a developing ridge will bring some scattered showers and thunderstorms to the region tonight, though this threat is mainly to our north and east. The most likely terminal impacted is DBQ. Otherwise VFR continues tomorrow with winds becoming more southerly.
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.CLIMATE... Issued at 315 AM CDT Fri Sep 12 2025
Record High Temperatures:
September 13: KBRL: 98/1927 KCID: 96/1930 KMLI: 97/1939 KDBQ: 96/1939
September 14: KBRL: 99/1939 KCID: 96/1939 KMLI: 99/1939 KDBQ: 97/1939
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.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.
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SHORT TERM...Kimble LONG TERM...Kimble AVIATION...Kimble CLIMATE...Uttech
NWS DVN Office Area Forecast Discussion