Forecast Details for Ridgeway, IA

Recent Locations: Comer, GA Overbrook, OK Ridgeway, IA

Today: A chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. High near 44. East wind 7 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tonight: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Low around 36. Breezy, with an east wind 7 to 16 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Saturday: A chance of rain and snow showers between 11am and 4pm, then a chance of snow showers after 4pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Breezy, with a west wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 49. Northwest wind around 14 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northwest wind around 11 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Breezy, with a northwest wind 13 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 20. Blustery, with a north wind 12 to 17 mph decreasing to 6 to 11 mph after midnight.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. Northeast wind 5 to 13 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Breezy, with a south wind 21 to 24 mph.

Wednesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Breezy, with a south wind 17 to 20 mph becoming west after midnight.

Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. Breezy, with a northwest wind 16 to 18 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.

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Weather Topic: What is Rain?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Rain

Rain Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Precipitation in the form of water droplets is called rain. Rain generally has a tendency to fall with less intensity over a greater period of time, and when rainfall is more severe it is usually less sustained.

Rain is the most common form of precipitation and happens with greater frequency depending on the season and regional influences. Cities have been shown to have an observable effect on rainfall, due to an effect called the urban heat island. Compared to upwind, monthly rainfall between twenty and forty miles downwind of cities is 30% greater.

Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Weather Topic: What is Sleet?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Sleet

Sleet Next Topic: Snow

Sleet is a form of precipitation in which small ice pellets are the primary components. These ice pellets are smaller and more translucent than hailstones, and harder than graupel. Sleet is caused by specific atmospheric conditions and therefore typically doesn't last for extended periods of time.

The condition which leads to sleet formation requires a warmer body of air to be wedged in between two sub-freezing bodies of air. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it melts, and as it falls through the next sub-freezing body of air it freezes again, forming ice pellets known as sleet. In some cases, water droplets don't have time to freeze before reaching the surface and the result is freezing rain.

Next Topic: Snow