An Active Weather Pattern This Coming Week...

A strong area of low pressure is located on the shore of Lake Superior near Bayfield Wisconsin this evening. The relatively tight pressure gradient around that low was responsible in part for the nice warm up in temperatures on Sunday afternoon. Strong southerly winds to the south of the low blew across northern Illinois eating up the recent snow cover, and warmed temperatures to 47 degrees after an early morning low of 13 degrees. In fact, areas to the south and west of Rockford, where there was very little snow or none at all, saw temperature rises into the 50's. Sterling reached 54 degrees, and Galena touched on 51 degrees.  A cold front has pushed through most of northern Illinois by 11 pm.   Moisture is very limited, there was not any precipitation with the passage of the front. There will be a few clouds overnight and Monday morning, but it is expected to be mostly sunny on Monday with high pressure over the northern plains switching the winds to northwesterly.   It will be colder on Monday with a high in the middle 30's.  It will start off mostly clear on Monday night, but it will become mostly cloudy overnight as the high pressure ridge shifts across the area, and a weather system works itself through the Rocky mountains.  It will be cloudy on Tuesday, and winds will be southeasterly.  It appears as if precipitation will hold off untill late morning, or perhaps even into the afternoon.  The sooner it starts, the more likelihood that there could be some snow mixed in with rain.  If it holds off until afternoon, it will be rain with temperatures rising into the upper 30's.  By 6 pm on Tuesday evening an intense low pressure storm center will be over Nebraska.  A warm front will stretch from Omaha to Paducah Kentucky.  With plenty of Gulf moisture surging northward over the front across the Stateline, and fairly strong instability, there may even be some thunderstorms in the evening.  In any case, it will be a rainy night across northern Illinois.  The low temperature will be in the middle 30's.  The strong low will be occluded out over Iowa by early Wednesday morning, and a dry slot will work its's way across northern Illinois early in the morning.    The low will continue to work it's way east across the area on Wednesday, and wrap around precipitation will develop.  With colder air aloft some rain and snow showers are expected.  There could be a minor accumulation of snow, but nothing significant is expected over northern Illinois.  On Thursday a weak ridge of high pressure will make for partly cloudy skies with afternoon temperatures in the upper 30's.  The next Pacific system to affect the area will cause mostly cloudy skies of Friday.  Temperatures will reach the low 40's, so any preciptiation that falls will be in the form of rain.  Colder air will follow in behind the departing system.  It will remain mostly cloudy on Friday with a chance of some flurries or snow showers possible.