Rain Chances Arrive for Father's Day Weekend, Low-End Severe Risk Saturday

Did you happen to catch a glimpse this morning's beautiful sunrise? If not, here's a snapshot from our skytrack camera looking over downtown Rockford. This morning, the Stateline was greeted to to another dry, but warmer start as low temperatures ended up in the low 60s for most.  Our Friday has been filled with plenty of sunshine so far, but these sunny skies will eventually give way to more clouds and our first chance for rain since June 12th.

This summer-time heat is set to continue today, with highs soaring in the upper 80s and low 90s.  What's different about today is that there's going to be a bit more humidity around. Dew points are forecast to climb into the low 60s, which could make the air feel a bit sticky. This type of heat can really take a toll on your body, especially if you're going to be outside for a prolonged period of time. Take plenty of breaks in a shaded area, and drink plenty of water to remain hydrated. Cloud cover will eventually begin to fill in after the mid-day hours, leading to a chance for isolated showers and thunderstorms after 3-4PM. Model guidance suggests that the coverage of the activity later today remains fairly isolated. If you are planning on participating in outdoor dinning or city market, keep an eye on that radar, and have the rain gear close by.

The greatest chance for the Stateline to see some much needed rainfall will be between Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning. It doesn't look like tomorrow will be a total washout, but this has been the best opportunity for us to see a good amount of rainfall since June 10th.

An area of low pressure will swing into central Iowa, sparking up a few scattered showers and thunderstorms along the associated cold front. These storms will track eastward into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin after 4PM, with chances lasting until midnight. Some of these storms may be on the stronger to severe side. For this, The Storm Prediction Center has the entire area under a marginal risk, which is a level 1 of 5 on the scale of severe weather categories. Any storm that does jump into the severe criteria will be capable of producing gusty winds. The severe threat comes to an end once the cold front clears the region.

As for Father's Day itself, it does seem that a few lingering showers and thunderstorms will be possible early on. Chances will then become more isolated as the day continues, with skies turning partly sunny. So, there will be more dry hours than wet, allowing for some time to celebrate Father's Day outdoors. Temperatures Sunday will be closer to normal as highs only climb into the low 80. But to all the fathers out there, we at the first warn weather center hope you have a wonderful fathers day!