Sunshine and Seasonable Temps Ahead of Late Week Cold

Before we jump into the forecast, I wanted to point out that this morning's sunrise was the last sunrise after 7 AM until late November. That should distract you from having the Monday blues right? In other words, spring is right around the corner. However, temperatures this morning were far from feeling like spring. The storm system that brought the Stateline roughly 2" to 6" of snow to end the weekend has departed the area allowing for clouds to slowly move out. I actually saw the edge of the high cloud deck moving east of the Rockford area on my way into the station this morning. As of a result of the clearing skies and fresh snow pack, temps to start out were about 5 to 10° colder than just 24 hours ago! Wind chills, which are what really matter during the winter months, were in the upper single-digits and low teens. As these northwest winds become lighter as the day wears on, the wind chill won't be much of a factor for your afternoon plans.

Thanks to an area of high pressure that slides into the region from the west, tranquil weather is expected to stick around for the first half of the work week. In fact, an abundant amount of sunshine will help our highs climb to near average this afternoon. Our second cold front this week will sneak on by around sunrise tomorrow morning. This frontal boundary won't have any moisture associated wit it, but it will keep our surface winds to the northwest. In other words, another seasonable and quiet day is ahead for Tuesday as highs climb back into the low 30s. Wednesday will bring a pattern change that will extend into the rest of our work week.

Model guidance this morning was hinting at a majority of the midweek snow potential coming in late in the day on Wednesday. Current thinking suggests that we will see snowfall totals similar to what we saw during the day yesterday. Still, the event is a good 48 hours away so we will have to see how much treat this storm system tonight and tomorrow. The biggest story weather-wise this week isn't necessarily the mid-week shot at snow, but the frigid cold that comes in behind it.

Thursday and Friday afternoon could feature highs nearly 20° or more below average. You know it's cold when the high temperatures only climb up to our average lows for this time of year. If you haven't been keeping track, our average low going into mid-February is 17°. So far this winter season, which officially started December 1st, the Rockford International Airport has failed to record a sub-zero temperature. The coldest low temperature observed this meteorological winter was 1° back on January 19th. The best chance to end this streak will come Friday morning.