Temperatures rise to the upper 80s to low 90s Friday and Saturday. It will also be a bit muggy, feeling like the low to mid 90s. This is pretty much the kind of fair weather we'd expect to see!

A couple spotty storms will be possible Friday evening, with the best chances in southern Iowa. Saturday looks mostly dry, with partly to mostly sunny skies. Overall, chances for rain look pretty low for the state fair.

Showers and storms move in as early as Sunday morning ahead of a cold front. Stronger storms will be more likely in the afternoon and evening hours, some of which could produce hail and strong winds. If you're planning to head out to the Iowa State Fair Sunday afternoon and evening, have a way to get weather alerts and a plan to seek shelter if needed.

Once the cold front moves through Sunday night into Monday morning, more pleasant weather settles in next week. Highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s with mostly dry conditions--nearly perfect fair weather!

The newest drought monitor indicates small improvements in southern Iowa. South central and southeastern Iowa have seen some of the moderate drought retreat. Parts of Decatur County are no longer under a severe drought. However, the areas under extreme drought near Ottumwa saw almost no improvements. Meanwhile, parts of eastern Iowa from Waterloo to Cedar Rapids have been upgraded to a severe drought.

This matches somewhat with where most of the rain fell over the last week. Brad Pugh, a meteorologist with the Climate Prediction Center, notes that crops can still do well thanks to short term rain even when under a longer term drought. Longer term precipitation deficits are one reason why much of the extreme drought remains in place in southeastern Iowa. So, while recent rains have been good for crops, they haven't been enough to make much of a dent in the drought over the last several months and years.

The next seven days will bring the potential for more needed rain across Iowa. A good portion of the state is expected to see at least another half inch to inch of rain. For any notable drought relief, however, we will need to see significantly more rain to compensate for the deficit that has built up over the year and last several years.

The southwestern half of Iowa got in on most of the rain. A particularly heavy band set up along a line from Atlantic, Creston, Osceola and northeast of Lamoni.

Some locations, such as the Van Wert area, recorded a significant 5.5" of rain according to one Photolink viewer report. Another report in the Weldon area recorded about 4.8" of rain. Creston picked up the highest amount among the automated Iowa weather stations -- about 4.22".

Most of the rain wrapped up by around 1p.m. Here is a full list of totals from 1 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Wednesday:

More scattered showers and storms will be possible over the next few days.

First -- the heat. Temperatures will soar into the upper 90s Friday. With the high levels of humidity, it will feel like 110° for most of the region, with parts of northern Iowa seeing heat indices near 105°. Heat indices this high make it tougher for the body to cool off (it's harder for our sweat to evaporate in high humidity), so stay cool and hydrated.

For that reason, an Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for most of southern and central Iowa until 9PM Friday. A Heat Advisory is in place for northern Iowa, also until 9PM Friday.

You'll want to stay weather-aware Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. The heat and humidity will provide plenty of energy in the atmosphere, giving storms the chance to fire. Northern and central portions of the state are under a level 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather.

These storms could be severe with one of the biggest risks being damaging winds along with a smaller risk for hail. The tornado risk looks fairly low.

Storms will begin firing in the late afternoon to early evening hours, likely between 3 PM and 6 PM. Cells are expected to form a line and move east across the state. Most storms should wrap up by midnight. There is still a fair amount of uncertainty as to when and where these storms may form. Be sure to have the 13WarnMe app handy for any weather alerts.

Another round of storms will be possible early Saturday morning. By noon Saturday, most of the rain and storms will have moved out.

Look forward to a "cooler" weekend with highs in the upper 80s. We'll have more updates on the heat and storm threat through the day and night on-air and online, right here at www.who13.com/weather.

So far, July has actually been a mostly "cool" month. Temperatures have been about a degree below average. After a stretch of upper 80s to low 90s around the beginning of the month, temperatures cooled for the next several days. The middle of the month was also generally cooler than normal.

July has also been a dry month for Des Moines. Only one day recorded rainfall over half an inch. Most other rainfall amounts were rather minimal and sporadic. For that reason, Des Moines sits about an inch below normal rainfall amounts for the month of July.

While the first week of August looks to remain warm and humid, there are signs of relief in sight. A pattern shift looks to bring the potential of cooler air over the state of Iowa. The Climate Prediction Center's 30 Day Temperature Outlook shows elevated probabilities of below average temperatures for central Iowa.

One potential reason for increased odds of cooler weather: expected precipitation amounts. The pattern shift that will likely arrive for the second half of August may also lead to increased rainfall.

While there are decent signals of cooler conditions in August (especially in the second half of the month), there will of course be the expected up and downs that come with Iowa weather!

All of Iowa is under a Heat Advisory through Friday night, as afternoon and evening temperatures will be in the upper 90s to 100 degrees and heat index values will be above 100. An Excessive Heat Warning begins at noon in southeast Iowa and will last through Friday evening, due to even higher temperatures to 100 and heat index values as high as 110.

Here's a slideshow of the expected Heat Index Values from Thursday noon through Friday night:

A cold front will cross the state late Friday night and bring a few thunderstorms overnight and drop in temperatures. Highs will return to the upper 80s to 90 degrees Saturday and Sunday.

Keep track of all the weather at www.who13.com/weather.

A Heat Advisory goes into effect at noon on Wednesday and will remain in place through 9 PM on Thursday. The combination of high temperatures and high humidity will lead to heat index values in the afternoons and evenings above 100 in the next few days. This can lead to heat illness.

Temperatures look to stay at 90 or above for the next 7 days.

The longest stretch of 90+ degree weather for Des Moines was in 1936 from June 25 to July 19 that year. That was 25 days of 90+ degree heat.

A more recent 90-degree stretch of days happened in 2012 when we had 16 days from July 11 to July 26. In 2011, we had 13 days of 90+ degree highs from July 15 to July 27.

For 2023, we have only hit 90+ in Des Moines 6 days this year:

• June 15 - 90
• June 22 - 90
• June 23 - 91
• July 4 - 92
• July 11 - 93
• July 24 - 90

If you'll be spending an extended amount of time outside, stay hydrated, wear light and loose-fitting clothes, and find as much shade as possible. Watch for the signs of Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke. Heat illness is the top weather-related killer.

You can find a list of cooling shelters in Polk County here.

Keep track of the conditions at www.who13.com/weather.