Minimal Amounts of Rain

As of this morning we've only got one opportunity to pick up any measurable precipitation over the next seven days. The time frame that I'm staring at is late Thursday night and early Friday morning. I believe this rain event will be a brief one, and here is the reason why. The atmosphere is going to be very dry when this cold front moves through. The air will be relatively dry because a frontal boundary is draped across the deep south. This boundary is blocking the rich Gulf of Mexico moisture from reaching the Midwest. Furthermore, it will be moving through during the night when the atmosphere is the least unstable due to the effects of daytime heating. Lastly, the showers expected will not be a large cluster that extends into Iowa. It will likely be a thin line, which will move through rather quickly and dump rather light amounts of rain on the area. By sunrise Friday morning, this rain event should be mostly over. Some sprinkles/drizzle may linger into the daytime hours of Friday, but merely trace amounts of rain will be recorded from this. -ADAM