Rockford saw another mild day on Saturday. With a high of 72 degrees and a low of 40 degrees the average temperature was above normal again for this time of year again. Seven out of the first 10 days of April have been above average. You may ask yourself... "Ok, I thought so, but by how much?" The answer is by an unheard of 10.9 degrees. If this were to continue for the the entire month of April, it would end up being one of the warmest Aprils on record, and records for Rockford go back to the early 1900's. We have had two 80+ degree days, and four 70+ degree days so far this month. You may think..."This is great!"... but hold fon a second. All this warm weather is advancing our vegetation too fast. Buds are swelling, and almost ready to break on the fruit trees. They will break this next week if the warm weather continues, and the blossoms will be on the trees before you know it. This is problematic, because if we get more cold snaps that drop temperatures below freezing after blossoms appear, there is a risk of the loss of the entire fruit tree crop across the Stateline this season. This is something to be aware of because the last date of our last killing frost in the spring around these parts is between May 7th and May 11th. So, it would be better if the temperatures dropped back to more seasonal levels. What is the likelihood of that happening? Well, again, it appears as if the main jet stream will remain off to our north for the next several days, at least, and temperatures will be above normal all next week with 70's likely again next Thursday and possibly Friday.
There is a chance it may even approach 80 again on Thursday. So, there is a valid concern about what will happen with the apple blossoms this spring. The other side of the coin is.... that it is entirely possible that we may not get another killing frost after the apples are in full blossom, and then, of course, everything would be fine.
Where is the cold air? Well, it is still cold on the north slope of Alaska with mid day temperatures around
-15 below zero. There in no indication of any of that cold air headed in our direction. Of course, even if it were to make a move on us, the temperatures would be greatly modified by the time the air mass got here under the influence of the powerful April sun.
A weak cool front passed though the Rockford area late this afternoon swinging winds around the northwest. There are some very light rain showers, probably best classified as sprinkles lagging behind the front. The air is very dry so, despite lift assoiated with the front very little rain is being squeezed out. There may be some sprinkles overnight that could possibly linger into the early morning on Sunday.pressure with even drier air will work it's way into the area on Sunday afternoon, skies will become partly cloudy. Building high pressure will move across southern Canada, and the northern Great Lakes, and our winds will shift from the north to the northeast to the east by Sunday afternoon. The high will continue to an influence on our weather thru Wednesday. The next system to affect the Stateline will approach from the west on Wednesday night. There will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms thru Friday night.
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