By Meteorologist Paul Dailey
Gusty southwest winds and abundant sunshine should boost temperatures into the lower 40s Sunday afternoon, despite well over a foot of snow covering over most of the metro area. There have been only a record-breaking 13 days since Dec. 1 with temperatures above freezing, but Sunday afternoon Chicagoans should experience the first daytime 40-degree reading in 2011.
The high temperature on New year's Day was actually 41 degrees, observed at midnight, but temperatures were steadily falling thereafter as cold Arctic air spread into the area.
Cooler Monday, then warm-up
Northwest winds will cool temperatures by about 5 degrees Monday, but at night winds will shift back to the south signaling the start of a prolonged warm-up that will probably erase our thick snow cover by the end of the workweek. Highs should again hit 40-degrees Tuesday, and from that point on the snow cover will be under siege with readings peaking in the lower 50s Thursday and Friday. Rain showers Wednesday through Friday will further accelerate the snow melt. There will probably be a lot of standing water as over two inches of stored water runs off into ice-clogged drains.
Gusty southwest winds and abundant sunshine should boost temperatures into the lower 40s Sunday afternoon, despite well over a foot of snow covering over most of the metro area. There have been only a record-breaking 13 days since Dec. 1 with temperatures above freezing, but Sunday afternoon Chicagoans should experience the first daytime 40-degree reading in 2011.
The high temperature on New year's Day was actually 41 degrees, observed at midnight, but temperatures were steadily falling thereafter as cold Arctic air spread into the area.
Cooler Monday, then warm-up
Northwest winds will cool temperatures by about 5 degrees Monday, but at night winds will shift back to the south signaling the start of a prolonged warm-up that will probably erase our thick snow cover by the end of the workweek. Highs should again hit 40-degrees Tuesday, and from that point on the snow cover will be under siege with readings peaking in the lower 50s Thursday and Friday. Rain showers Wednesday through Friday will further accelerate the snow melt. There will probably be a lot of standing water as over two inches of stored water runs off into ice-clogged drains.
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