Heavy rain targets Midwest through the weekend

Elsewhere, heat and fire continue to dominate weather news.

Author

Ian Livingston
August 08, 2025

Heading into the weekend, main items to watch include the potential for heavy rain and flooding in the Midwest, more heat and of course the ongoing fire situation in North America.

Weather Watch

Central U.S. flood threat. A slow-moving cold front bumping into plentiful moisture is set to deliver a flood risk to portions of the Midwest through the weekend. The focus appears to be on parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois for coming days, where as much as eight inches of rain is in the forecast. Some severe thunderstorms will also cross the region.

Western heat. Phoenix hit 118 on Thursday, tying for hottest of the year and setting a record for the date, plus so late in the season. Heat warnings continue for the city and surrounding areas through Friday, with temperatures waning somewhat from peak but still quite intense. Much of the Plains is also under heat alert Friday.

Fire and smoke

The latest outbreak of smoke from the wildfires in Canada has abated except nearer the source region. It was a sizable burp, as the map of worst daily air quality index for Aug 1-7 shows below.

Code Orange and Code Red covered much of the northeast quadrant of the Lower 48.

Apparently, smoke has nearly circled the globe.

2025 is currently crossing the threshold to the second worst fire season in Canada with 17.5 million acres scorched, behind only the unbelievable 2023 when nearly 43 million acres burned.

And at the same time, the U.S. fire season continues to escalate. Southern California’s Gifford Fire is becoming another megafire as it passes 100,000 acres while additional blazes break out in the hot and drought-addled region.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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