Quick rise in temperatures expected

Temperatures over the weekend were held in the 50s thanks to a very strong cold front that came through Saturday morning.  Highs Saturday reached 59° and highs Sunday only reached 56°.  After a frosty start this morning, plenty of sunshine this afternoon will allow for temperatures to rise into the middle 60s. 

Lows this morning fell into the low 30s in most locations with a few spots bottoming out right around 30°.  From lows this morning, a nearly 50° temperature rise is expected to occur by Tuesday afternoon!  A very strong warm front in the Plains will lift through Iowa and Minnesota this afternoon and then pull through Illinois and Wisconsin tonight.  Clouds will be on the increase late today with only a few isolated sprinkles/showers possible.  Highs Tuesday afternoon are expected to rise into the middle and possibly upper 80s!  The record high for Tuesday is 92° which was set back in 2007.  While we likely won't reach the record for tomorrow, some locations may reach close to 90°.  The only limiting factor would be the depth of the atmosphere that we're able to mix to and if clouds linger a little longer into the afternoon.

Looking back through the data records shows that a warm up of this strength is actually quite rare. The Chicago NWS did a little digging through the Rockford climate records and found some interesting information.

Here's what they came up with:
All time largest one day warm ups

                  ROCKFORD
   DIFF    LOW         DATE         HIGH        DATE
1)  63         30         04/09/1930      93         04/10/1930
2)  59        -17        02/22/1936      42          02/23/1936
     59         11         03/17/1976      70          03/18/1976
4)  58        -6          01/29/1926      52          01/30/1926
5)  57       -21         01/21/1924      36          01/22/1924
     57        24         03/31/2003      81          04/01/2003
7)  56       16         11/04/1945      72          11/05/1945
     56      27          04/21/1953      83          04/22/1953
     56      24          04/10/1996      80          04/11/1996
     56      29          04/13/2003      85          04/14/2003

 

 

Top 4 largest one day warm ups during the month of May in Rockford

 

                *ROCKFORD
   DIFF    LOW     DATE         HIGH     DATE
1)  53      31       05/15/1926      84     05/16/1926
     53      53       05/30/1934     106    05/31/1934
3)  51      32       05/04/1926      83     05/05/1926
     51      35       05/18/1955      86     05/19/1955

*During the month of May there were numerous 50°+ warm ups, so only the top 4 were listed.  Also, it's important to note that through time observational times may have changes.  Either way, it is a fairly significant temperature rise coming from lows observed Monday morning to what highs are expected to reach Tuesday afternoon.