562  
FXUS63 KDMX 250554  
AFDDMX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA  
1254 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2025  
 
...UPDATED FOR THE 06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION...  
   
KEY MESSAGES  
 
- ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM THIS EVENING  
INTO FRIDAY MORNING. LOW RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IN THE FORM OF  
HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ALSO POSSIBLE.  
 
- MORE THUNDERSTORM CHANCES FROM SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
HIGHER POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER ON MONDAY, BUT DETAILS  
UNCLEAR AT THIS RANGE.  
 
 
   
DISCUSSION  
 
ISSUED AT 247 PM CDT THU APR 24 2025  
 
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ACROSS IOWA EARLIER THIS MORNING,  
MAINLY THE SOUTHERN HALF WITHIN OUR AREA, BUT HAVE DIMINISHED AND  
MOSTLY MOVED INTO NORTHERN IOWA SINCE THEN. MEANWHILE, A LARGER  
AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS THAT MOVED FROM KANSAS INTO EASTERN  
NEBRASKA THIS MORNING IS APPROACHING THE MISSOURI RIVER AND WILL  
CROSS IOWA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. NEAR- SURFACE MOISTURE IS  
POOLING JUST SOUTH OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY STRETCHING FROM  
SOUTHWESTERN/WESTERN IOWA INTO CENTRAL/NORTH CENTRAL IOWA,  
ROUGHLY FROM AROUND SHENANDOAH AND ATLANTIC UP AND OVER TO  
MARSHALLTOWN AND NEWTON. DEWPOINTS WITHIN THIS SWATH ARE AROUND  
60 DEGREES AT THIS TIME, AND AS DIURNAL HEATING CONTINUES MODEST  
INSTABILITY WILL BE REALIZED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS  
EVENING WHEN SURFACE-BASED CAPE SHOULD PEAK AROUND 1500 J/KG.  
DEEP- LAYER SHEAR WILL ALSO INCREASE WITH EFFECTIVE BULK HEAR OF  
25-30 KT DURING THAT TIME, SUPPORTING SOME DEGREE OF UPDRAFT  
ORGANIZATION. A FEW STRONGER STORMS WITHIN THIS CORRIDOR MAY  
THUS BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS, BUT OVERALL  
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS LIMITED BY THE RELATIVE LACK OF  
FLOW/SHEAR AND A MARGINAL RISK IS HIGHLIGHTED BY SPC. FARTHER TO  
THE NORTH AND SOUTH, LOW- LEVEL MOISTURE APPEARS TOO LIMITED TO  
SUPPORT INSTABILITY SUFFICIENT FOR EVEN THAT THREAT, THOUGH  
FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND MODEST ELEVATED INSTABILITY STILL SUPPORT  
GENERAL THUNDER CHANCES. ALSO WORTHY OF NOTE IS THAT PORTIONS  
OF OUR SERVICE AREA HAVE RECEIVED GENEROUS RAINFALL IN RECENT  
DAYS, INCLUDING AROUND WATERLOO WHERE OVER 2" OF RAIN FELL LAST  
NIGHT AND NEARLY 5" HAS FALLEN IN THE LAST WEEK. WITH STORMS  
PERHAPS TRAINING THROUGH THE AFOREMENTIONED CORRIDOR OF  
INSTABILITY THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT, LARGELY OVER AREAS THAT  
ARE NEARING SATURATION FROM RECENT RAINS, WE COULD REALIZE SOME  
THREAT OF FLOODING AS ELABORATED IN THE HYDROLOGY SECTION BELOW.  
 
A HIGH PRESSURE AREA BUILDING DOWN FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL PUSH INTO  
IOWA BEHIND THE RAIN TONIGHT, FORCING IT EASTWARD OUT OF OUR AREA BY  
FRIDAY MORNING AND LEADING TO A COUPLE DAYS OF DRIER AND QUIETER  
WEATHER. SKIES WILL BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON  
THROUGH SATURDAY, WITH TEMPERATURES RELATIVELY COOL DUE TO THE HIGH  
PRESSURE AREA AND HIGHS GENERALLY IN THE 60S ON BOTH DAYS. BY SUNDAY  
MORNING, A LARGE 500 MB LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL BE LOCATED ROUGHLY  
OVER NEVADA, WITH A REGION OF STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW AND  
DIFFLUENCE ALOFT SPREADING ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. A  
CORRESPONDING BELT OF ENHANCED SOUTHWESTERLY 850 MB FLOW WILL  
DEVELOP OVER THE HIGH PLAINS AND INTO IOWA DURING THE DAY, PROMOTING  
SOMEWHAT WARMER TEMPERATURES AND STEADY MOISTURE ADVECTION, ALONG  
WITH A RETURN OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES. THE LARGE PARENT  
STORM SYSTEM WILL THEN FINALLY APPROACH AND MOVE OVER IOWA MONDAY  
AND MONDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NOTABLY WARMER ON MONDAY,  
PUSHING UP INTO THE 80S ACROSS MOST OF OUR FORECAST AREA WHILE  
DEWPOINTS SURGE INTO THE 60S. THE ROBUST WIND FIELDS AHEAD OF THE  
APPROACHING CYCLONE, ALONG WITH STRONG INSTABILITY RESULTING FROM  
THE LOW- LEVEL WARM AIR/MOISTURE ADVECTION, WILL CREATE A FAVORABLE  
PARAMETER SPACE FOR ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS AND POTENTIALLY  
SUPERCELLS WITHIN THIS BROAD REGION. HOWEVER, MANY OF THE GLOBAL  
MODELS AND ENSEMBLES HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING TO DEPICT A CORRESPONDING  
COVERAGE OR INTENSITY OF CONVECTION. QUESTIONS REMAIN AS TO WHERE  
THE HIGHEST THREAT WILL MATERIALIZE, HOW MUCH CONVECTION WILL OCCUR  
IN THE WARM SECTOR VERSUS ON THE ADVANCING/TRAILING COLD FRONT, AND  
HOW THE DETAILS OF THIS SCENARIO WILL SHAKE OUT. SPC HAS INDICATED  
AN ENHANCED SEVERE WEATHER RISK ACROSS IOWA ON MONDAY AND WE WILL BE  
CLOSELY MONITORING THIS POTENTIAL OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.  
 
 
   
AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/  
 
ISSUED AT 1253 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2025  
 
MAIN AREA OF SHOWERS/ISO THUNDER MOVING OVER REGION NOW AND WILL  
IMPACT MOST SITES THROUGH 18Z. FROM 18 TO 00Z, EXPECT GRADUALLY  
CIGS LIFTING BACK TO MVFR/IFR AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES INTO REGION  
BY 06Z. THOUGH CURRENT CONVECTION MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 15  
TO 25KT, CONFIDENCE ON TIMING AND COVERAGE RATHER LIMITED AND  
HAVE NOT INCLUDED WITH PACKAGE UNLESS ONGOING. /REV  
 
 
   
HYDROLOGY  
 
ISSUED AT 247 PM CDT THU APR 24 2025  
 
IN THE SHORT TERM, CONCERNS ABOUT FLASH FLOODING LATER TODAY INTO  
TONIGHT HAVE DECREASED. LATEST MODEL RUNS HAVE TRENDED DOWNWARD ON  
AVERAGE IN BOTH QPF AMOUNTS AND RATES. IN URBAN AREAS, THE MOST  
LIKELY SCENARIO WOULD BE SOME TEMPORARY PONDING ESPECIALLY IN FLOOD  
PRONE AREAS. IN TERMS OF SMALLER STREAMS, THE LATEST NATIONAL WATER  
MODEL 12-HR AND 18-HR FORECAST OUTPUT SUGGESTS THE MOST LIKELY  
SCENARIO WILL BE WITHIN BANK RISES WITH ISOLATED MINOR FLOODING  
POSSIBLE. THE AREA OF MOST CONCERN IS WEST OF I-35, NORTH OF I-80  
AND SOUTH OF US 20.  
 
IN TERMS OF RIVER FLOODING POTENTIAL, THE RISK HAS DECREASED ON  
AVERAGE AS WELL DUE ALSO TO THE AVERAGE DOWNWARD TREND IN QPF. HEFS  
OUTPUT BRINGS SOME OF OUR FORECAST POINTS TO ACTION STAGE AT THE 30%  
AND 50% LEVELS, AND INTRODUCES SOME MINOR FLOODING AT THE 10% LEVEL.  
THE GFS AND NBM-FORCED NWM BOTH SUGGEST SIGNIFICANT WITHIN BANK  
RISES ON MANY STREAMS MAINLY FROM WESTERN INTO NORTHEASTERN IOWA,  
WITH SOME ISOLATED MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE. THE GREATEST CONCERN IS  
THE CEDAR RIVER BASIN AND TRIBUTARIES. PRESENTLY WE DO HAVE A FLOOD  
WATCH FOR THE BLACK HAWK CREEK AT HUDSON DUE TO STREAM FLOODING  
POTENTIAL THERE. IF RAINFALL AMOUNTS COME IN HIGHER THAN EXPECTED,  
HOWEVER, THEN RIVER FLOODING WILL BE A GREATER RISK.  
 
 
   
DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
NONE.  
 
 
 
 
 
DISCUSSION...LEE  
AVIATION...REV  
HYDROLOGY...ZOGG  
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