Another "October-Like" Day Ahead, Rain Chances Remain Scattered

It's been a very chilly stretch here at home the past few days. So much so, that many of you may have turned the heat on in your household. High temperatures the past two days have landed in the upper 50s, which is 20 degrees below average. After tying our record cold high of 58° on Tuesday, we shattered the record cold high for September 9th with a high of 58°. The old record, 63° back in 1924. As for what to expect today, it' pretty much a copy and paste type forecast of yesterday. 

It was yet another chilly, damp, and foggy start to the day for the Stateline, with most spots dropping into the upper 40s and low 50s. If your morning routine took you out the door early on, it would have been essential to have an umbrella on hand. Although most of the rain has been shown passing to our northwest, a few areas did wake up to patchy drizzle. Similar to yesterday, these low-level clouds are so low to the ground that the precipitation is not being picked up on radar. Whether the radar beam is coming from Chicago, Milwaukee, or Quad Cities, the beam overshoots the light precipitation. 

With that being said, rain chances remain scattered today, but by no means is it going to be a washout like Tuesday was. The rain that we see today will be light and could be steady at times. Today's light rain showers will likely result in less than a tenth of an inch for most, with areas in northwest Illinois having the potential to see two-tenths of an inch. As we approach the evening hours, a high pressure system that is currently over the Upper Midwest is expected to slowly creep closer to the Stateline. This will help dry out the atmosphere a bit, and lower rain chances as we head into the overnight hours. While an isolated shower or two cannot be ruled out, much of the night should remain dry with mostly cloudy skies.

Along with the "copy and paste" type forecast, high temperatures once again could approach record-breaking territory. Thanks to the thick cloud cover, rain chances, and a decent northeast wind, highs will again top out in the upper 50s. The record cold high for today is 58° set back in 1924, so we have the potential to break or even tie this record later on as temperatures will again be very slow to rise.

But if you are done with this pre-fall chill, I've got some good news for you. Today's high of 58° is going to be the coolest day of the next 7 days. High temperatures are expected to climb back into the 70s starting tomorrow, even warmer by next week.