CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Expect a significant change in temperatures this week, along with some widespread showers and storms.

Your first alert: It’s windy everywhere, most storms wait until later Wednesday

Clouds will remain fairly frequent into the night, with some variation in the thickness of cloud cover. Winds also remain very windy, coming from the south or south-southwest. Although peak gusts will be a bit lower, expect speeds of 20 to 30 mph to remain possible overnight. Lows won’t fall until the mid 60s, much like where we started Tuesday.

Most of Wednesday morning will be with good cloud cover, but little precipitation. By mid-morning, an isolated shower or thunderstorm could occur as additional moisture moves into the state. However, most of the development will take place westward, where a fairly concentrated line of showers and storms will gather.

This line pushes slowly eastward for the rest of the day, largely reaching our western counties after about 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. Ahead of the main line, a few scattered showers or storms are also possible. Our northern areas are affected by this activity first, thanks to the northeastward movement of individual cells within the overall rain zone (which will move eastward as a unit). So if you live north of US Highway 20, plan for a potentially wet and stormy late afternoon.

The rest of TV9’s viewing area will be involved in the evening, with areas like Cedar Rapids and Iowa City being placed in more rain around 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. For the remainder of the evening, activity continues to move eastward as a unit, with the trailing edge of the main wave of rain clearing much of the area around midnight.

Although the ingredients for widespread severe thunderstorms are not there tomorrow in eastern Iowa, one or two incidences of high winds or large hail cannot be completely ruled out. The main period for this would be between around 6 p.m. and midnight, occurring at the forward edge of the main rain and storm area. If a warning is issued for your area, seek shelter indoors and away from windows until the storm passes.

These storms should also be fairly efficient producers of precipitation, thanks to the fairly high humidity levels we have this time of year. A band of at least an inch of rain appears to settle over at least parts of the viewing area, with the northwest half best positioned to get that much. However, everyone should see at least a few, probably larger than 0.25″.

Additional showers are possible for the remainder of Wednesday night, but are expected to be much more widely scattered than previously. This will also largely end by dawn Thursday, when morning lows will be in the mid 40s to around 50.

Cooler, but dry, in time for Halloween

Strong west or northwest winds will still be likely as this storm system moves away, remaining in that 20 to 30 mph range during the day Thursday. A fair amount of cloud cover will also be present at the start of the day, and we can’t completely rule out a scattering in a few places. Temperatures will be in the mid 50s at best in the afternoon.

The sky will gradually clear and the winds will become lighter Thursday evening and Thursday evening. Temperatures are expected to drop pretty steadily by mid-evening, meaning Trick-or-Treat time will mostly be in the 40s. Although it won’t be the coldest Halloween we’ve seen , keep this change in mind for your release plans.

Friday starts off on a cool note with lows in the 20s to 30s, and afternoon temperatures will climb back into the mid 50s. This is actually pretty typical weather for the first day of November, so enjoy, fall fans!

Your first warning: stay cool, but get quite damp

The break from our active weather pattern is short-lived, with additional storm systems on the way for the weekend and early next week. At least a few areas of low pressure will affect us here in eastern Iowa, each bringing their share of rain and storms.

The first will be felt from Saturday, with the risk of showers increasing later in the day. These become more widespread Saturday evening and Sunday, with a chance of thunderstorms also. Additional bursts of moisture come with disruptions in the pattern Monday and Tuesday, giving more chances for rain with a few embedded thunderstorms.

Severe weather does not appear particularly likely during this time, given temperatures in the 50s and 60s, but heavy rain will be possible. An additional 1 to 3 inches of precipitation could occur between Saturday and Tuesday evening, in addition to what will occur this week.

Temperatures generally remain near or slightly above normal during this period as well, with lows in the 40s to 50s and highs in the 50s to mid 60s most of the time.

Becoming dry late next week

We will experience another break after this parade of storm systems, and the upper-level trough of low pressure that is responsible for it will have passed the region. As a result, clearer skies and cooler temperatures will set in. Highs in the 40s and mid 50s and lows in the 30s are likely to wrap up the next week of work and school.

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