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As mid-April approaches, The Old Farmer's Almanac provides an Iowa weather forecast for the week of April 8-14, 2023. Residents and visitors of the Hawkeye State can expect a combination of sun and clouds, with temperatures and precipitation levels varying throughout the week.

A powerful spring storm system will work across the forecast area later today and exit early Saturday morning. The system will bring a slew of dynamics including thunderstorms, severe weather and then snow, so read on for the details...

As we usher in the month of April, let’s take a look at the upcoming week’s temperature and precipitation forecast for the state of Iowa. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Hawkeye State will experience a delightful mix of sunshine and rain showers from April 1st through April 7th, 2023.

On this first day of spring, Iowa gardeners eagerly await the perfect time to start planting and tending to their gardens. The Old Farmer’s Almanac provides a 10-day forecast to help gardeners plan for the last two weeks of March 2023, offering valuable insights into planting dates, gardening tips, and other local almanac items specific to Iowa. In this article, we’ll explore this forecast and discuss essential gardening information for Iowans.

An area of rain and snow will continue to slowly work north today through later tonight. Precipitation should begin to wrap up in northern Iowa around 9-11 PM tonight. That said, scattered flurries should linger from northwest to north central Iowa overnight into Thursday morning before the main activity arrives. Snow will increase across west into central Iowa by Thursday morning with the activity expanding into eastern Iowa by late morning and through the afternoon. A widespread snowfall event is likely during the day Thursday through late evening for most locations in the forecast area. Areas in extreme southern Iowa will have a mix of rain/snow which will limit accumulations. Snow will begin to taper off across west and central Iowa by late Thursday night and eastern Iowa by early Friday. Once Friday morning hits, a few snow showers may remain across northeast Iowa before the system works east of the state.

A low pressure system will be placed in eastern Colorado by later this evening with rain increasing across Iowa 6-9 PM tonight. A decent slug of heavier rainfall will slide through the state overnight into Monday morning with the main axis of moisture extending from southwest through central and into eastern Iowa. Due to the heavy rainfall, ponding and localized stream flooding is not out of the question. Also need to watch south central into extreme southeastern Iowa early Monday morning for a few stronger storms that may contain some hail and damaging wind gusts. This activity will taper off across western Iowa mid-morning, central Iowa by late morning and eastern Iowa by early Monday afternoon. The numbers have been crunched for the system with rainfall amounts of 1-2" expected for a large portion of the forecast area and some locations on the lower end of that scale. I continue to think that a cut-off will be seen across interior northwest Iowa from 0.25-0.50" to 0.50-1.00" leading to totals that can underachieve in this zone.

A surface low across northeast Kansas will pivot northeast today with snow continuing across northern Iowa and rain/freezing rain to the southeast this morning. This activity will expand north and east through the day as the storm system will get underway across the forecast area. Precipitation will be primarily snow across northern Iowa later this afternoon through late tonight while further south into central and eastern Iowa will have freezing rain. The ice accumulations for such will be primarily 0.10-0.25" from central into east/northeast Iowa with locally higher amounts into a few areas of east central and northeast Iowa. The hotspot is near Dubuque where 0.25"+ is likely which will meet the warning threshold. In terms of snowfall accumulations, the highest amounts are across the northern two county rows with a sharp cutoff in northeast Iowa. In addition, sustained winds 15-30 MPH with gusts 30-50 MPH will continue today through tonight.

A strong storm system will impact the forecast area starting tonight, maximizing Thursday morning and ending early Thursday afternoon, so read on for details... The strong storm front will begin to impact the southern Iowa with rain working in 4-6 pm this evening. The activity will continue to spread north and east through late tonight and as it does so, temperatures will cool with rain changing over to heavy wet snow overnight. Once Thursday hits, the low will be positioned off into Illinois which will put the east central and southeast zones in the best trajectory for light to moderate snow accumulations. Snow will begin to taper off across central Iowa Thursday mid-morning and eventually eastern Iowa by later Thursday morning. Then the focus will turn to a second pulse of energy that will start in northwest Iowa midday Thursday and as it slides east, flurries and brief snow showers are possible. Main impacts from the second pulse will be for northwest Iowa with visibility reduced at times due to falling snow and strong northwest winds.

A weak pulse of energy moved through yesterday and now a stronger storm system will impact the forecast area later Wednesday night through Friday with a risk for rain, snow and gusty winds, so read on for details...

The January 2023 forecast for above average precipitation and below average temperatures was true with how the month unfolded. Now to look at February which does look to come with temperature swings through the month, so read on for details...

A potent winter storm will impact portions of the forecast area starting late tonight, maximizing Saturday morning and ending Saturday afternoon/evening. Read on for the full details with the ISC models for snow and wind within this article...

A clipper system will pass through the forecast area tonight through Friday with a quick round of gusty winds and light snow accumulation. Then a more potent storm system will hit over this upcoming weekend, so read on for all the details...

A strong arctic air mass will eye the forecast area by the end of the month after several snow chances hit the forecast area, so read on for details... Temperatures are very cold north of the states and with time, this will dive south into the forecast area. The start of the event will come this weekend and into the first half of February. The cold air mass maximizes the first week of February with readings that can potentially come close to December 2022 standards. That was the time we had near 50 below wind chill values in northwest Iowa and this will likely bring 20-40 below wind chill values but certainly think that it's possible to see readings lower then that as well. In terms of snow, we have several chances in the cards between now and the time the arctic blast hits. The first chance of snow will come Wednesday with the main axis of moisture from central to eastern Iowa, but a piece of energy will pivot southeast out of the northern plains which will give the rest of Iowa a risk for scattered snow showers Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.

The Iowa Storm Center Winter Storm Watch was issued Monday and now the final warning product, this is it. Heavy snowfall rates and gusty winds will be the main threat with this system. The full ISC model suite is below, so read on for the details...

Iowa Storm Center has issued a Winter Storm Watch for northwest, north central, northeast, west central, central, southwest and south central Iowa. Read on for the details... Timing: Effective later Wednesday through Thursday....

The first storm front in a series will pass through Iowa starting tomorrow (Monday) and going through early Tuesday. This will bring showers/thunderstorms and even some snow to the forecast area. A larger storm system follows Wednesday through Thursday. Read on for the full details...

The Iowa Storm Center long range models continue to show an active moisture stream through late month with multiple storm systems expected during this time, so read on for details...

A strong storm front will slide through the state later tonight, maximizing Tuesday night and ending later Wednesday evening. Read on for the details including the Iowa Storm Center model suite for rain, snow and ice.

The clipper system that passed through on Christmas day was one of a series of systems that will continue into the New Year and thereafter before we have a pattern flip, so read on for the details...

We are right on schedule with the arctic air expected to arrive next week and it will be a strong one with snow chances, so read on for the details... The first shot of cold air will come this weekend into early week but that will be a preview of what will come late week. Then we will work in a weak storm system around Monday Dec. 19th with perhaps a few inches of snow that can be squeezed out with this, especially for the center and southeast part of the state. That said, a chance of flurries or snow showers looks common for most of Iowa but the areas I mentioned above will be ground zero for the most accumulation out of the system.