Cloud Cover Holds Strong, Patchy Freezing Drizzle & Flurries Possible

For both the Rockford area and the entire Stateline, it's been tough to get days that feature either mostly sunny skies or partly sunny skies. In fact, the average cloud cover at the Rockford International Airport from January 1st to yesterday comes out to be 73%, with 19 of the 27 days featuring at least mostly cloudy skies. In other words, we have been lacking in the sunshine department a little bit. If you are sick of this pesky clouds, I am sorry to say we look to tackle on another cloudy day today.

A few patchy areas of freezing drizzle have developed around the Stateline earlier this morning. As cloudy skies stick around throughout the day, freezing drizzle and flurry chances could linger as well. Now, you may be looking at a source for radar and asking yourself "freezing drizzle? How come I don't see it? That is because the radar beam rises as it moves away from the radar location. The radar beam will pick up on a developing area of snow since snow forms higher up in the atmosphere. Drizzle however, forms closer towards the surface. In order for the radar beam to hone in on drizzle, it would have to be situated closer to the radar tower. That's one way freezing drizzle can become a nuisance. Now, because of freezing drizzle containing "super-cooled" water droplets, it can instantly freeze to a surface. Especially if that surface is cold enough. Freezing drizzle is certainly possible through noontime today, with even a few flakes of snow mixing in. This shouldn't impact much, but untreated roads and surfaces could become slick if the freezing drizzle falls long enough.

Cloudy skies are expected to remain with us into the overnight hours tonight. A shift in our surface winds will bring a slightly cooler start to the day tomorrow as northeasterly winds help drop our temperatures into the low 20's by tomorrow morning. The cloud cover aims to stick around through our Wednesday. The system that is currently bringing moderate to heavy snow across portions of the Midwest and Southern Plains will track well south of the viewing area. When we say "well south", we mean track into the ArklaTex region (Arkansas, Louisiana, & Texas). Enough moisture streams northward to the point that we do leave a chance for spotty flurries throughout Wednesday. Little to no accumulations are expected with tomorrow's activity. The best chance for snow here in the Stateline would be with a clipper system Friday into Saturday.