We will not rule out scattered rain showers today and tonight. However, yesterday should serve as a prime reading of how dry the atmosphere has become. Moisture tried to push into the state yesterday afternoon well in advance of the front but did not materialize in anything hitting the ground. Today we will see more clouds than the past few days and temps will try and pull back a bit, but moisture will be very, very limited in its coverage. We think most of the state will be dry. However, there is a slightly better chance of some action developing in the southern part of the state later today and tonight, and that scattered shower potential hangs around through tomorrow. All told, moisture potential over the next 36 to 48 hours is a few hundredths of an inch to a tenth or two, and coverage will be no better than 20-30% of the state.
The weekend is wet. Rains develop late tomorrow night and then we see off and on rain chances through Saturday. The action intensifies overnight Saturday night and continues through Sunday. We will keep rain totals at .5”-1.5” over 90% of the state for the weekend. Some rains will linger into early Monday morning.
Dry for the rest of Monday and Tuesday, but our next strong storm complex comes in for Tuesday overnight and all day Wednesday. This system looks big in coverage and intensity, with rain totals remaining at .5” to 1.5” and coverage at 90% of the state.
Another storm complex moves in for late next Friday night into Saturday, bringing rain totals of .25”-1” to start the Memorial Day weekend. This has the potential to turn into a slow-moving upper-level low that plagues the region all the way through the holiday weekend with rain and clouds. However, rain totals after the initial arrival look to be fairly minor. IT is a pattern that would not facilitate much drying.
The rest of the extended period looks active, with another low coming out of the plains into the eastern Corn Belt for late the 30th through the 1st. This system could have .25”-1.5” rain potential, depending on the track.
Temps will pull back from the well above normal levels we have seen recently, looking more like normal temps through the weekend and next week. If a slow moving upper low does develop for Memorial Day weekend that would likely generate some cooler temps there toward the end of the 10 day period.