Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Minimal Rain Chances this Week with High Pressure in Control

High pressure anchored over the Midwest and Great Lakes this week has kept the threat for measurable rainfall very limited for most in the Stateline. Isolated showers and thunderstorms did develop Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, but were focused more over southwest Wisconsin and northwest Illinois.

There hasn't been much moisture in the atmosphere due to northerly winds in the jet stream coming in from Canada and high pressure near the surface. High pressure is associated with sinking air, and in order to get thunderstorms to develop, or even rain clouds, air needs to be rising. There were a couple weaker upper level disturbances Tuesday and Wednesday that allowed some of the air to rise, but it remained fairly weak.

High pressure will continue to dominate our skies through the end of the week as it shifts into the southeastern part of the country. This will allow our winds to begin to shift around to the south by the weekend. Rain chances will remain limited going into the weekend until a cold front moves down from the north. That front will come through Monday morning bringing our first chance for more widespread and measurable rainfall in over a week.

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