OTTUMWA —
The National Weather Service is predicting rain this week, followed by a nice warmup.
The forecast includes a 70 percent chance of rain for Wednesday night and Thursday in southeast Iowa, but forecasters don't expect much rain at this point. The totals for the event are predicted to be under 0.2 inches.
That doesn't sound like much and, honestly, it's not. But the area doesn't get much rain this time of year. January averages less than an inch of precipitation, and last month's 1.5 inches was well above average.
February receives 1.28 inches of precipitation on average. So the forecast would actually cover about one-sixth of the month.
High temperatures will rise into the upper 30s to low 40s after the rain moves out. But the NWS believes that will change with the beginning of next week. They're forecasting rain and snow Sunday night into Monday, though it's much too early to predict amounts.
This winter has not seen the massive snowfalls some years are hit with, but it's not over yet. Forecasters are starting to turn their attention to spring, with the announcement of March 25-29 as severe weather awareness week.
Several storm spotter classes are scheduled in the area:
Centerville March 12
Ottumwa April 2
Knoxville April 11
The full list for training by the NWS Des Moines office can be found by clicking here.
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Rain, then warmup in forecast
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