Had the fog failed to burn off fairly early this morning, it would have been just another mild damp December day, but the sun made a sterling appearance, and the temperature responded very nicely. It was a fabulous day with the sunshine, light winds, and unseasonably warm temperatures. The official high at the Rockford airport was 64 degrees. That reading tied the old record of 64 degrees set back in 1982. The average high for December the 2nd is 38 degrees. The average high of 64 degrees normally occurs in the fall on October 14th. In the springtime you have to wait until April 22nd until the average high reaches 64 degrees. Weather this warm in December is very unusual. That being said...It looks like Monday may be warmer than Sunday with a high around 65 degrees. Should the temperature reach 65 degrees on Monday, another long standing record will be tied. The record high for December 4th is 65 degrees set in 1970. Strong southwesterly winds developing by mid day on Monday, and lasting through the afternoon could easily push the temperature to 65 degrees or even higher. It is expected to be cloudy with lingering fog in the morning. Drizzle will accompany the fog. Should the cloud deck break for a good period of sunshine in the mid day through the early afternoon... 70 degrees would be possible. That is not likely to happen, but stranger things have happened. By the way... weather records go back more than 100 years in Rockford, and there has never been a 70 degree reading in December. Food for thought.
There is a "DENSE FOG ADVISORY" in effect for northern Illinois until 8 am on Monday morning. Caution is advised driving tonight because of restricted visibilities to less than a quarter of a mile, and in some areas there may be visibility down close to zero. Don't drive unless you have to tonight. If you must drive be sure to keep your head lights on dim, and slow down. Some fog may linger in the morning after the "Advisory" is lifted at 8 am. There will be drizzle. During the mid day and the afternoon the wind will pick up from the southwest at 20 to 30 mph. There are not expected to be any breaks in the clouds with the moist air streaming northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Showers will develop during the afternoon, and continue into the evening. There is even the possibility of a brief thunderstorm or two between 6 pm and 9 pm. Skies will clear and midnight, and it will turn cooler with the overnight temperature dropping to 39 degrees as the first front pushes off to the east. A bubble of high pressure over the plains will control area weather on Tuesday. It will be sunny and cooler, but pleasant for this time of year, with a high around 52 degrees. That's still 14 degrees above average. It will get cooler, though as the week goes on, with Canadian high pressure taking control dropping temperatures to near 27 degrees on Tuesday night. On Wednesday the high will be in the upper 30's.
On Thursday a weather system will push mostly cloudy skies across the area, and it could scatter some showers across northern Illinois. The high will be in the middle 40's on Thursday. It will get colder following that system. It will be partly sunny on Friday with a high near 40 degrees. Another disturbance could bring some precipitation to the Stateline on Friday night. The low temperature on Friday night is expected to be in the 20's, so there is a chance we could get some light snow on Friday night. On Saturday it will be chilly with a high in the upper 30's, and once again there will be a chance of snow on Saturday night. On Sunday it will be mostly cloudy with scattered rain and snow showers.
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