Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Lingering rain/snow showers Tuesday evening; Scattered rain/snow showers Wednesday


Widely scattered sprinkles/light showers and flurries will continue to come down through sunset Tuesday evening, with mostly cloudy skies expected through much of the night.  The light snow flurries from Tuesday didn't amount to much locally, with the Rockford airport officially receiving a trace of snow.  Elsewhere, steadier snow showers came down but didn't accumulate to much and were quick to melt away. 

Skies will slowly clear into Wednesday morning with temperatures falling into the upper 20s and low 30s.  A Freeze Warning will go into effect at Midnight, lasting through 9am Wednesday.  Make sure to bring in, or cover up, any plants that may be sensitive to the cold temperatures.  Anything you do cover up, you'll want to make sure to remove the covering shortly after sunrise. 


Wednesday will start with a little sunshine but cloud cover will be quick to build mid-morning, with skies turning mostly cloudy during the afternoon.  High temperatures will rise into the mid and upper 40s.  A cold pocket of air aloft (for mid-April) will cause a quick change in temperatures with height, creating a little instability during the afternoon.  That, combined with another quick moving low pressure system, will allow scattered showers to develop.  But because temperatures will fall below freezing just above the surface, the rain could mix in with a few snow showers, or even some graupel.  A few snow squalls could even occur during the day, but are likely to form closer to Lake Michigan.

Once the sun sets we will lose the instability and any mixed precipitation will come to an end.  Skies will clear as high pressure moves in from the west.  Temperatures are likely to fall into the 20s once again Wednesday night, with another frost/freeze potential by Thursday morning.  Thursday night, even though overnight lows will be in the 30s, patchy frost could develop before cloud cover moves in for Friday morning.  


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