Meteorological winter starts off mild

Meteorological Winter began this past Saturday but afternoon temperatures felt anything but winter like.  Highs Saturday afternoon reached 58° and the mercury rose to 64° on Sunday!  While we were just a handful of degrees off the record high Saturday we tied the record high Sunday; which was 64 degrees set back in 1982.  As a very unseasonably warm and moisture rich atmosphere floods the Plains and Midwest today records will likely tumble for many from Houston to Chicago.

Despite the fog and cloud cover expected this afternoon temperatures will rise into the middle 60s with a gusty southeast wind.  The record high for today is 65° which was set back in 1970.  Normally this time of year fog and cloud cover keep temperatures down but we're already starting off in the middle 50s so once the fog lifts around noon temperatures should begin to rise as well.  A cold front passing after 5pm in western Illinois and 7pm across Rockford will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms through the early evening.  The air mass behind the front originated from the Pacific so temperatures won't be as cold with highs Tuesday, and the remainder of the week, remaining slightly above average.