Forecast Details for Alton, IA

Recent Locations: Batavia, NY Craigville, IN Alton, IA

Overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. East northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday: A chance of sprinkles before 11am, then rain likely, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Breezy, with an east wind 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Wednesday Night: Rain. Low around 35. Breezy, with an east wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Thursday: Rain. High near 45. East northeast wind around 15 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers after 1am. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.

Friday: Freezing rain likely before 10am, then rain showers. Some thunder is also possible. High near 42. Northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday Night: Rain and snow showers likely, mainly before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 26. Blustery. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Windy.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Blustery.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 50.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 31.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Breezy.

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Current U.S. National Radar--Current

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National Weather Forecast--Current

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North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

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Weather Topic: What is Precipitation?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Precipitation

Next Topic: Rain

Precipitation can refer to many different forms of water that may fall from clouds. Precipitation occurs after a cloud has become saturated to the point where its water particles are more dense than the air below the cloud.

In most cases, precipitation will reach the ground, but it is not uncommon for precipitation to evaporate before it reaches the earth's surface. When precipitation evaporates before it contacts the ground it is called Virga. Graupel, hail, sleet, rain, drizzle, and snow are forms of precipitation, but fog and mist are not considered precipitation because the water vapor which constitutes them isn't dense enough to fall to the ground.

Next Topic: Rain

Weather Topic: What are Shelf Clouds?

Home - Education - Cloud Types - Shelf Clouds

Shelf Clouds Next Topic: Sleet

A shelf cloud is similar to a wall cloud, but forms at the front of a storm cloud, instead of at the rear, where wall clouds form.

A shelf cloud is caused by a series of events set into motion by the advancing storm; first, cool air settles along the ground where precipitation has just fallen. As the cool air is brought in, the warmer air is displaced, and rises above it, because it is less dense. When the warmer air reaches the bottom of the storm cloud, it begins to cool again, and the resulting condensation is a visible shelf cloud.

Next Topic: Sleet