Another Day of Wind

One of the most intense, if not the most intense mid lattitude cyclone to ever pass though the upper midwest is still formidable, and located just north of the arrowhead of Minnesota in southwestern Ontario, Canada.  It's central pressure plummeted to 28.20" yesterday, and is still nearly as low today.  There is a very tight pressure gradiaent between the low and high pressure over the Rockies.  After a sunny start to the day clouds will gradually move into the Stateline from the north.  The winds will increase to 25 to 35 miles an hour with some gusts this afternoon reaching close to 55 miles and hour.  So, a HIGH WIND WARNING has been issued by National Weather Service Offices for the entire Stateline until 7 pm this evening.  Winds will still be strong this evening gusting to 40 miles and hour early, but diminish overnight to 15-25 miles and hour with gusts to 30 miles an hour.  With the air flow veering to the northwest overnight, some light rain showers may reach as far south as Interstate 80, and there might even be some wet snow flakes over far northern Ilinois.  Don't worry...there will not be any accumulation with warm soils and surface temperatures remaining above freezing overnight.  The cyclone will weaken overnight and move to James Bay by 6 am on Thursday.  It will still be quite breezy on Thursday under skies the will start out partly sunny, but become mostly sunny in the afternoon.  It will be chilly with a northwest wind 15 to 25 miles an hour, and gusts as high as 30 miles an hour, before diminishing later in the afternoon.  The high temperature will be only in the middle 40's.  High pressure from the plains will take complete control of our weather on Thursday night, and under clear skies the temperature will drop into the frosty middle 20's.  With high pressure directly overhead on Friday winds will be light, and skies will be sunny.  The temperatures will recover a few degrees back up into the low 50's.  It will remain mostly sunny on Saturday as high pressure shifts into the southeastern states, the wind will become southwesterly, and the temperatures will recover into the mid to upper 50's in the afternoon.  By Sunday low pressure will be spinning up near Kansas City, and a warm front will lie east of the low across Illinois south of Interstate 80.  The proximity of this system may cause some light rain showers, but the Gulf of Mexico will be blocked from pumping moisture into northern Illinois.  So rainfall amounts are expected to be meager with only a few hundredths of an inch possible.  A few showers may persist into Sunday night.  High pressure well to the north in Canada will cool temperatures by a few degrees early next week as winds turn to the northeast.
By  Meteorologist
Eric Nefstead