Tornado Watch Until Tonight, More Rain on the Way

A large storm is rumbling its way through Missouri at the this moment, heading east north east with the northern tip of the storm system likely to converge upon the Des Moines area, Ames, Iowa City, and the Linn County area before it makes its way through Iowa.

The National Weather Service also is predicting storms to develop in its wake, with a tornado watch in effect for the following Iowa counties until 8:00 p.m. There are also swaths of Illinois and Missouri under the watch as well.

• BENTON 
• BUCHANAN 
• CEDAR 
• CLINTON 
• DELAWARE 
• DES MOINES
• DUBUQUE 
• HENRY 
• IOWA 
• JACKSON 
• JEFFERSON 
• JOHNSON
• JONES
• KEOKUK
• LEE
• LINN
• LOUISA
• MUSCATINE
• SCOTT
• VAN BUREN
• WASHINGTON 

All of the Iowa Patch coverage area including Polk, Dallas, Johnson, Black Hawk, Story, and Linn counties remain under either flooding or flash flooding warnings due to the large amount of rain that has already fallen prior to today.

Here is the Thursday weather forecast for Iowa City from the National Weather Service, which predicts rain to hit tonight and likely into Friday afternoon before finally quieting down for Friday and through Sunday before rain chances pick up again on Monday.

• Thursday Afternoon: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. High near 77. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
• Thursday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
• Friday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 78. South wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
• Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.