NORTH IOWA — Forecasters are tracking a two-part weather threat for North Iowa that begins with overnight thunderstorms and ends with a chance of severe storms and dangerous heat Monday, according to the National Weather Service office in Des Moines.
The Weather Service placed the region under a marginal risk, or level 1 of 5, for severe storms from midnight to 6 a.m. Monday, with damaging wind cited as the main hazard. Thunderstorms were expected to move into northwest Iowa overnight and weaken as they track southeast at about 20 mph across northern Iowa through the early morning hours, the agency said in a 4:05 a.m. Sunday forecast packet.
Conditions are then expected to turn hot Monday afternoon, with heat indices forecast to reach 103 degrees in Mason City. Other communities in the outlook range from a heat index of 100 in Estherville to 107 in Fort Dodge and Ames, according to the Weather Service. The agency cautioned that morning storms and smoke aloft could still influence how hot temperatures actually get…