Arctic chill settles into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois this weekend

 

For the second day in a row the high temperature warmed into the low 60s, with Rockford's high reaching 64 degrees. This was the warmest temperature since October 20th when the mercury reached 67. And while we'll likely experience one more 60-degree day at the end of the week our weather is expected to do a 180 by the weekend.

Skies will remain partly cloudy through the night as a southwest breeze holds evening and overnight temperatures in the mid and upper 40s. It'll feel chilly but temperatures will remain above average. A strong cold front will pass Wednesday morning quickly shifting winds to the northwest. Gusts approaching 35 mph can be expected through mid-afternoon with some of the highest gusts focused between 8am and 3pm. High pressure moving in Wednesday night will quickly calm our wind which could lead to some frost early Thursday before cloud cover slides back in. As for temperatures, it'll be a warmer start but with the wind shift it doesn't look like temperatures will have much of an opportunity to climb despite the sunny sky. Afternoon highs will still remain above average in the upper 50s.

A second, and stronger, cold front arrives late Thursday night and this will bring with it scattered showers and perhaps an isolated thunderstorm or two. Rainfall totals will range from around a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch, with most of the accumulation focused along and south of Highway 20. Near the state line and into southern Wisconsin totals will be a little less.

The cold air behind this front is delayed a bit which means temperatures Friday will make another run for the low 60s. It'll also come with a gusty west wind. But by Friday night the cold air moves in, with an even stronger push of cold air expected Saturday. This will cause temperatures Saturday afternoon to remain in the 40s with scattered rain showers likely. Sunday and Monday temperatures may even struggle to make it out of the 30s! As for precipitation, rain is favored most of the weekend

but there could be some snowflakes mixed in if the arctic air mass is quick to arrive Saturday evening. You could also be waking up to wind chills in the teens both Sunday and Monday morning.