Keep the Umbrellas Handy; Wet Start to the Week

In the previous post we mentioned the amount of rain we could see through Wednesday, but some days look to be soggier than others.


This morning we've see a few isolated showers move northeast through the area, but already running into drier air and fizzling out, also because the lift in the atmosphere is moving east and leaving the area. This will generally be the case as we head through the day but a better rain threat will be this evening. So far this morning most of the rain has been south of I-80, riding along better upward vertical motion in the atmosphere.

We will have a lot of dry hours today, before more rain moves in for the mid to late afternoon. A stalled boundary is currently located in far southern portions of Illinois. This warm front will slowly lift to the north tonight into tomorrow. Allowing for moisture to steadily increase along with bringing a little more instability. Rain will increase in coverage this evening, with showers and thunderstorms expected through the overnight. Watch for those showers to linger into Tuesday morning with a few more breaks, but that isn't the last of the rain. An upper level trough, or dip in the atmosphere will dig across the region as early as midday Tuesday, and that will once again bring an increase in showers and storms. Dew points will be rising into the 60's allowing for more moisture and instability to build. Thunderstorms will be possible, but the severe weather threat will generally stay south. This is because we need support in the upper levels of the atmosphere, which lies to the south.

The warm front lifts to the north Tuesday into Wednesday, allowing temperatures to warm into the upper 70's to right around 80°. The coverage in the rain will be minimal Wednesday, but with the heating of the day a few stronger storms would be possible in the late afternoon.