textproduct: Des Moines

KEY MESSAGES

- Showers linger this morning in southern Iowa but gradually clear out this afternoon.

- More seasonal temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s today and Thursday.

- Additional thunderstorm chances later Friday into Saturday and again Sunday into early next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 225 AM CDT Wed Sep 9 2026

Showers and storms are currently ongoing across central and southern Iowa after an entire evening of thunderstorms. Most of the rain has fallen by this point, with totals near 2-5 inches near I80. LLJ momentum deceleration will continue to drive elevated storms across southern Iowa this morning, and another 1" may fall. Flash flooding and stream rise concerns will continue in the metro for the next couple hours for flash flooding and through the day today for stream flooding. The axis of these storms will continue to drift south through the morning and begin to weaken around and after sunrise with the fading LLJ, and look to move out of the state around 15z. Some clearing is being observed already on the backside of the storm complex, mainly in northwest Iowa. Winds are calm and low levels are well saturated, so any extended period of clear skies will allow for some patchy or even dense fog to form. This is already ongoing in far northwest Iowa, and fog may begin to form further south into our CWA towards sunrise as clearing of upper level clouds extends across most of northern Iowa.

Higher pressure and drier air pushes in and brings a period of mild weather today. Some scattered showers and perhaps a thunderstorm could linger through midday today in southern Iowa, but it should otherwise be dry across the majority of the state. Mid and upper level clouds are also expected to clear through the day. Highs in the lower 80s are expected today with lows falling into the 50s and 60s.

A 500mb shortwave moves through the flow across the state on Thursday, though dominant high pressure and dry profiles will limit any precipitation potential. In fact, even any cloud cover will be hard to come by on Thursday. Sunshine and full mixing of the overnight inversion should allow for highs to reach the low 80s again.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 226 PM CDT Tue Sep 8 2026

After a drier period Thursday and much of Friday, our next system arrives later Friday into Saturday as a deepening shortwave traverses the area. SPC has outlined a Day 4 risk area for this as a plume of instability increases in conjunction with better kinematic forcing. Another more robust system looks to move across the area Sunday into early next week. Both system will help to bring temperatures down and by early next weeks highs may be in the upper 60s to low 70s areawide.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 1241 PM CDT Wed Sep 9 2026

Some scattered to broken IFR to MVFR CIGs remain in southern Iowa early this afternoon but trend will be to VFR and gradually raising as well. A few showers also remain in southern Iowa, but are mainly dissipating as they near KOTM. A stray sprinkle or shower remains possible there, but the chances are lessening. Some additional cloud cover is developing in northwest/northern Iowa and may continue to drift southward. By this evening, high pressure and drier air moves in, as does another batch of upper clouds. Pending this cloud cover, some patchy fog is possible in especially north/northeast to southeast Iowa (KMCW, KALO, KOTM) with the high pressure and light winds overnight. VFR conditions are expected on Thursday.

DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.