Sunday afternoon weather update

Temperatures across northern Illinois Sunday afternoon have risen into the upper 60s/low 70s while in southern Wisconsin temperatures remain in the 50s.  A warm front currently sits along the Wisconsin/Illinois border keeping the cloud cover around just a bit longer in the dairy state.  In fact, some in Wisconsin woke up to a mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain!

Skies will remain dry through the rest of the afternoon but we'll have to watch any storm development to west as a line of showers and thunderstorms have been trying to form in western Iowa.  There's about a 40% chance that a severe thunderstorm watch may be issued for parts of Iowa and Missouri later this afternoon.  Instability remains minimal in the atmosphere due to the lack of moisture but some of that may be overcome by the energy associated with the cold front and low pressure system.  If thunderstorms can develop and continue ahead of the cold front in Iowa this evening we'll likely see that line begin to cross the Mississippi River a little before midnight. 

   The image on the left is the WSI RPM future radar and shows a line of storms from Freeport to Mt. Carroll down through Sterling around midnight.  Biggest threat from any storms tonight would be hail and strong winds.  We'll continue to keep an eye on things this evening, but for now enjoy the nice - but windy - afternoon!