Eyeing First Freeze of Season

The story of the fall thus far in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin has been above average temperatures. Since October 1st, we have seen 36 calendar days pass. Only four of those 36 days featured high temperatures below average. In addition, Rockford has not recorded a single temperature at or below the freezing mark of 32°. We usually experience our first 32-degree reading by October 7th. Now we are about one week into November, and have yet to record a temperature below 35°. Looking ahead into next week, it doesn't appear as though freezing temperatures will threaten the region. That changes by next weekend, though.

A pattern change that has been discussed all over the meteorological world is still set to occur later into next week. It's that change that will allow the coldest air of the season thus far to push in from Canada. The change that will occur is a switch in the jet stream. The jet has been located to our north for the duration of autumn, but it will dip to our south late next week. As a result, colder air will be allowed to filter into the Midwest and Great Lakes. For Rockford, we are expecting temperatures to drop into the lower 30's Friday night and possibly the upper 20's Saturday night. Winter's first shot is eyeing the area!