Leading Edge of Warmth Could Bring Storms Thursday Afternoon

Thunderstorms typically occur with summer-time heat and we could have a few storms by the end of the week.

A strong ridge of high pressure will move across the center of the country pushing high temperatures near 100 degrees over the High Plains.  For us, we'll see a gradual warm up Wednesday and Thursday before the heat arrives by Friday and Saturday.

The source for the heat will be a warm front that moves closer to the Stateline Wednesday night

and Thursday.  A couple factors will come to play as the warm front moves closer.  A ridge of high pressure will develop over the central Plains leaving Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin right on the outer edge of that ridge.  This will occur at the same time a warm front pushes into Iowa, Minnesota and western Illinois.  As it looks Tuesday evening, thunderstorms could develop late Wednesday evening into the overnight over the eastern Plains, moving southeast towards southern Minnesota and
northern Iowa.  Some of those storms could slide through the area Thursday morning as a warm front stalls over Iowa and central Illinois.

As those storms fade away, additional thunderstorms will be possible as the warm front lifts into Wisconsin Thursday afternoon.  These storms could turn severe with large hail being the primary threat through Thursday evening.  With the warm front and placement of the jet stream very close Friday, isolated thunderstorms will once again be possible Friday into Saturday.  By the end of the weekend a cold front associated with high pressure over southern Canada will slide down the Great Lakes and bring a break from the humidity.  Temperatures shouldn't drop too much with highs in the upper 70's to low 80's expected for the start of next week.

Thursday and Friday will be the days to watch for storm activity.  We're getting into the season where overnight thunderstorm complexes, known as MCS's, become more common.  It's possible we could see a couple of those by the end of this week.