PAUL DAILEY

The sun shone through high cirrus and scattered altocumulus clouds Sunday across the Chicago area, while thicker clouds and rain associated with low pressure centered over Tennessee continued over central and southern portions of the state. Despite northeast winds, temperatures here warmed into the upper 60s to middle 70s away from lake Michigan, but right along the shoreline readings struggled to warm out of the 50s. Northerly Island recorded a high of 57-degrees while O’Hare and Midway hit 69 and 70-degrees respectively. To the south across central and southern Illinois cloudiness and scattered showers continued Sunday, with standing water and high river and stream levels reflecting rainfall totals in the two to five-inch range since last Thursday.

Dry into midweek

With high pressure easing into this area, mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures, modified somewhat by a continued northeast low off Lake Michigan, will prevail over the Chicago area into Wednesday. Those dependent upon dry conditions should squeeze as much activity into the next three days, because it looks like low pressure moving east out of the central plains will bring a period of showers and thunderstorms over this area Thursday and Friday into Saturday. Much colder air – perhaps the last really cold burst of spring looks like it will hit over the weekend with coldest readings early the following Monday morning.

The waning influence of a far-reaching low pressure system moving to the southeastern U.S. coast led to brightening skies and temperatures warming into the lower 70s across the Chicago area Saturday. In the coming days, high pressure will gradually move into the Midwest and western Great Lakes accompanied by much drier air, sunnier skies, and a weaker east to northeast wind that will temporarily shift more southerly mid-week. This change in weather pattern will allow afternoon temperatures to rebound back into the 70s much of the workweek ahead.

Brief dry period

Agricultural interests will welcome the opportunity for fields to dry, but another round of significant rains could target this area by next Friday. At that time, computer models track low pressure out of the central plains south of Chicago bringing not only an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms, but a cooler northeast flow off Lake Michigan next weekend.

You have to go back to 1957 to find a colder May 3rd in Chicago. Friday was a cloudy damp dreary day punctuated by frequent rainy periods and northeast 10 to 20 mile per hour winds off the cold 45-degree waters of Lake Michigan. As the center of a sprawling low pressure system that also dumped record late-season heavy snows from Upper Michigan through Wisconsin and Minnesota through Iowa and western Missouri into northeast Oklahoma finally moves off to the southeast. Associated cloudiness will thin here during the day Saturday and winds shift more southeasterly, allowing temperatures to rebound back into the 60s, except lower 50s right along the lake Michigan shoreline.

Seasonably mild temperatures are just ahead next week with readings warming well into the 70s – some 4 to 8 degrees above the normal mid to upper 60s this time of the year. The next chance of rain will probably occur next Friday when a cold front is forecast to move south and east through this area bringing not only showers and thunderstorms, but cooler temperatures into next weekend.

After experiencing another chilly day Saturday with highs in the middle 40s more representative of the second week in March, a return to southerly winds should help boost readings back to more normal levels Sunday and Monday. In fact, if we receive enough sun through increasing clouds Monday, we could hit the 70-degree mark, especially in southern-most locations. Area rivers, many of which reached record and major flood levels with last week’s rains, are now slowly receding back within their banks.

 
As a cold front approaches from the west, there will be an increasing opportunity for a band of showers and a few thunderstorms to form up in advance of the front and move through our area on Tuesday. This round of rain should be nothing like the drenching, flood-producing rains late last week- more on the order of a quarter to a half-inch on the high end. Cooler high pressure should follow, holding high temperatures close to 10-degrees below average Tuesday through Thursday. The by the end of the week readings should be warming back to normal levels with another round of showers possible.

With three area rivers reaching record flood levels and several others in major flood, Chicagoans welcome a break in precipitation, even though Friday’s unseasonably cold air was accompanied by snow showers following Thursday’s flooding downpours. The Des Plaines River at Des Plaines and Riverside, the Illinois River at Morris, Ottawa, and LaSalle and the DuPage River at Bolingbrook all were at record flood levels Friday with forecasts for a very slow fall in the next few days.

Friday saw overcast skies, scattered snow showers with Midway reporting the latest accumulating snow (0.2 inch) in 24 years , strong westerly winds gusting above 30 miles per hour and temperatures barely reaching late February levels (high temperature 40-degrees at the official O’Hare site). The cold air will continue over the Chicago area Saturday with highs in the mid-40s more indicative of mid-March levels – sunshine will at least make it feel a little warmer. Southerly winds return Sunday into Monday boosting readings near 60-degrees Sunday and into the middle to possibly upper 60s Monday.