Gradual Warm-Up Follows Snowy Start to the Week

If you were up out of bed early enough this morning, you may have gotten the chance to see some snow. That's right. You heard correctly. A weak system tracking into the region overnight brought a few light snow showers for the start of the work week. Fortunately, any snow that we encounter this morning will only have the opportunity to accumulate on grassy surfaces. Even though we've been cold as of recent, roads may still be too warm for any snow to stick. Roads may be wet. However, no snowy or icy roads are expected as you travel to your destination this morning.

Snow chances, although much more scattered in nature, will continue into the noon hour. As temperatures gradually warm further from the freezing mark, snow could mix with light rain at times. Once today's precipitation chances fully comes to a close, cloudy skies stick around through the remainder of your Monday. Highs will once again end up unseasonably cold, with most topping out in the upper 30s to lower 40s, which is more typical of late-November. If you plan on going to the Festival of Freights from 6PM-8PM at Sinnissippi Park, better grab a jacket as temperatures will fall into the 30s. Hi-res models have been hinting at a few breaks in the clouds by this evening. But as high pressure draws closer, we'll have a better chance to see clouds clear out on Tuesday. 

Despite sunny skies on Tuesday, highs will remain in the low 40s. However, that doesn't tell the tale as we inch closer towards Halloween. By the middle of the work week, our surface winds will shift to the southwest, allowing temperatures Wednesday afternoon to climb into the low 50s. If you need to catch up on some yard work, or if you plan on talking a nice stroll at a forest preserved, both Tuesday and Wednesday feature great weather for both activities. We can expected a bit more cloud cover to arrive on Thursday, as a cold front swings in early in the day. Despite the cold front shifting our winds to the northeast, highs for Thursday and Friday remain in the low 50s.

If you think that's good, better news arrives as we move into Halloween weekend as temperatures start to inch closer to average. Well, the better news should be that we're not going to be dealing with snow come Halloween. In fact, Halloween 2019 was snowiest Halloween on record for the Rockford area, with a total of 3.1". Thank goodness that's not the case this year. Model guidance remains dry with partly sunny skies. It may be a bit breezy throughout the day, as warm southwest winds take over. But that southwest wind is going to help warm highs into the mid to upper 50s. Looking forward in to the beginning of November, the warming trend continues. long range models not only support warm-than-average temperatures, but drier weather as well.