Cloudy Skies Remain For Much of Work Week

The snowfall that we received late last week eliminated our snow deficit for the month. With a couple of days left in January, the Rockford International Airport has recorded 11.8" of snow. As we roll into the new work week, snow chances remain limited, but cloud cover will hold strong. Cloudy skies are kicking off the first day of the work week with temperatures early Monday in the upper 20s. Even a few flurries were caught on our skytrack cameras this morning. The forecast for the rest on the shoulders of a weak area of high pressure, which will help keep our winds at the surface out of the northwest. Winds are going to be fairly light today, so wind chills won't be much of an issue. Due to these light northwesterly winds, high temps will only soar into the low 30s. Cloudy skies feature prominently in the forecast for much of this week, but most of our Monday remains dry. Overnight tonight would be our next chance to see light precipitation make it to the Stateline area. A mid-level disturbance looks to bring a mix of freezing drizzle and even some very light snow.

Light precipitation, like drizzle and flurries, very rarely show up on radar. With that said, it doesn't take much freezing precipitation or even flurries to create slick roads, especially if road temperatures are cold enough. The snow we saw late last week didn't have any problem sticking and covering the roads once the roads cooled down enough. When you have a precipitation like freezing drizzle falling, these super-cooled water droplets will instantly freeze to a cold surface. Such as sidewalks, parking lots, and most definitely on untreated roadways.  Plan for a slower commute for Tuesday morning to account for those potentially slick roads. I would wake up a little bit early to give yourself extra time for your morning drive. Cloudy skies are expected to remain in the forecast through the remainder of the week. In fact, it's been a very cloudy month to kick off 2020. 14 of the 26 days so far have been reported as cloudy at the Rockford International Airport. The next time we have a legitimate shot at wintry precipitation would on Friday as a clipper system moves into the Midwest.