Several Cold Fronts Bring Rain Chances to the Stateline, The First Arriving Today

Before we jump into the forecast for the start of the work week, I want to give a very special shout-out to Friday's cold front. Because wow, what a beautiful weekend the Stateline had weather-wise! After 6 straight days with temperatures and heat indices in the 90s, both Saturday and Sunday featured highs about 10° to 15° cooler. For those like me that were tired of the extreme heat, we definitely got our wish. And after taking a peek at models this morning, it doesn't look like temperatures will climb that high as we head into the beginning of September. However, it has been a VERY dry August here in the Stateline. Several cold fronts swinging in this week will bring rain chances to the area, with the first arriving by this afternoon.

As for the start of our day, conditions were dry and comfortable under a mostly cloudy sky. Temperatures as many of you walked out the door were observed in the upper 50s, with Rockford being on the few spots starting out in the low 60s. As this cold front approaches the area, clouds will thicken up as we head into the afternoon, with highs climbing into the low 80s once again. By about 2-3PM, that is when we will see a few light showers roam into the Stateline. Showers that linger into the evening should exit the area by about 8-9PM. Once the cold front progresses through the region, a drier air mass will allow cloud cover to slowly decrease into Tuesday morning.

Now, rainfall accumulations with the activity later on today is expected to be very light, as this cold front doesn't have much moisture to work with. Hopefully we can squeeze out more than a trace with today's rain chances. Because with today being the last day of August, we have only recorded .52" of rainfall for the entire month at the Rockford International Airport. If we happen to not record any rainfall, this August will go down in the record books as the 4th driest August on record.

Aside from today's cold front, two more cold fronts are set to bring in a few more rain chances into the first weekend of September. Similar to today's cold front, Thursday's also has little moisture to work with. However, the cold front that arrives late this weekend into Labor Day seems to have a little more moisture at its disposal. This will give us a better chance for some rainfall here in the Stateline. This trio of cold fronts also keep temperatures cool into September with highs being confined into the upper 70s and low 80s. So thankfully, no 90s in the 7 day forecast. However, we do need the rainfall.