Wednesday afternoon storm update

9:30pm Update: The severe threat has ended for us this evening as a cold front approaches from the west. This will shift our winds from the south this evening to the west through the night, and then from the northwest Thursday afternoon. High temperatures will warm into the mid-50s under partly sunny skies.

12:50pm Update: The showers and storms from Wednesday morning continue to move out but some additional thunderstorm activity has moving through Lee, Ogle, and DeKalb counties. The biggest threats at the moment with these storms will be heavy downpours and gusty winds.

These storms remain north of a warm front which currently stretches across central Illinois where temperatures are in the 70s, but in the 40s and 50s north of the front. The Storm Prediction Center has shifted the highest risk for severe storms this afternoon further southeast, with northern Illinois now under a 'marginal' risk - meaning more isolated severe potential.

Trends have been pointing in the downward direction with the severe threat locally, but we're not out of the woods just yet. Clearing skies out west of the Mississippi River in Iowa will allow for some instability to build throughout the afternoon, shifting east by mid-afternoon. This will likely allow for at least some storm activity to redevelop locally by mid to late afternoon.