Dry Stretch Continues, Temperatures Warm into Midweek

Good morning everyone! I hope you got to enjoy the beautiful weather the region saw over the weekend. In fact, temperatures were pretty comfortable for both Saturday and Sunday as high temperatures climbed into the low 70s under a mostly sunny sky. Saturday was the first day that the airport recorded a below average high during the month of June, snapping a 12 day stretch of above average days. Fortunately, the comfortable weather is here to stick around for the start of the work week, before the heats cranks up by midweek.

Low temperatures this morning did start a little bit on the chilly side in a few spots. A few spots, including Freeport, Sterling, and most of our areas up in southern Wisconsin fell in the upper 40s by sunrise. However, plenty of sunshine today along with light southeasterly surface winds will make for yet another comfortable afternoon, with highs in in the upper 70s. A continuation of what we endured over the weekend weather-wise. Today will end up being another great day for outdoor activities. Just make sure you're prepared before heading outside, the UV index is a 9 out of 11. I would plan on putting on or having that sunscreen with you to lower your chances of getting sunburn.

Over the next couple of days, more specially after tomorrow, you may feel in uptick in the air temperature and humidity. Not so much the humidity, but you'll definitely feel a rise in temperature. That is because once again, we are dealing with a strong ridge of high pressure aloft in the atmosphere.

The placement of this high will act as a block, stalling an area of low pressure over the Carolina's for much of the upcoming week. Thankfully, we won't have to deal with any of the cloud cover and shower activity associated with that low. This ridge will allow a warmer air mass that is currently displaced over the southern plains to filter across the Midwest and the Great Lakes as we head into the middle of the work week.

Highs will jump from the upper 70s today to the upper 80s starting Wednesday and seems to continue into Father's Day weekend. The stretch of dry weather does look to come to an end by either late Thursday night or during the day on Friday, as scattered showers and thunderstorms look to return to the region. The ridging we see aloft early on aloft will give way to a strong system that swings across the Upper Midwest late Friday into Saturday, bringing a cold front in over the weekend. However, these rain chances remain uncertain at the moment as we are still a few days out. Something we will have to watch as Father's Day weekend draws closer.