Freeze Warning Tonight... Nice Weekend... Cold Returns Next Week

A sprawling cold Canadian high pressure is centered over Ontario this evening.  It's effects are widespread across most of the northeastern quarter of the nation.  It is pushing dry low dew point air across all of the midwest.  Skies will be clear over night, and the winds will diminish from the northeast to 5 to 8 mph locally overnight.  Temperatures are expected to drop to the upper  20's to around 30 degrees by daybreak.  So, a FREEZE WARNING has been issued for the area from 1 am until 8 am cdt on Friday morning.   By noon on Friday the cold high will be centered in northwestern lower Michigan moving toward the east.  Skies will be sunny, and temperatures will recover to the upper 50's by late afternoon.  Friday night will be clear, and it will not be quite as cold. with a low in gthe middle 30's.  On Satuday the cold high will be over Ohio in the morning, moving toward the east.  The pressure gradient between the retreating high and the next cool front stretching north/south across the plains will make for a breezy and warmer afternoon with temperatures reaching the middle 60's.  Skies will start out sunny on Saturday, but it will become partly cloudy in the afteroon as the front to the west gets closer.  Not much moisture is being drawn into this system, so only scattered light rain showers are expected with the passage of the front on Saturday night.  There is a very slight chance of a thundershower.  The front will be well to the east of Illinois by sunrise on Easter.  It will be mostly sunny and breezy on Easter morning.  The temperatures will reach the low 60's on Sunday afternoon.  A strong re-enforcing Canadian cold front will develop over the northern plains on Sunday, and sweep across the Stateline by midnight Sunday night.  It will be mostly cloudy. windy and colder on Monday with a chance of some instability showers, mainly during peak heating hours from mid day through mid afternoon. The high will only reach the low 50's on Monday afternoon.  Temperatures will be close to freezing on Monday night.   It will be mostly sunny, breezy, and chilly on Tuesday with temperatures  having a tough time getting out of the 40's on Tuesday afternoon.  Freezing temperatures will be possible again on Tuesday night.