Foggy Starts Gives Way to Steady Rain Chances, Dry For Thanksgiving

Following a snowy morning across the Stateline, heavy rainfall and warmer temperatures helped melt away all of that fresh snow, making it seem like it never even happened. Cloud cover remained thick overnight, giving the vast amount of lingering moisture no path of escape. This has resulted in a layer of dense fog forming early Wednesday morning, some experiencing thicker fog than others. For that, the National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for Jo-Daviess and Stephenson counties until 8AM, and also for Green and Rock counties up in Southern Wisconsin until 10AM. 

Those that are heading out onto the roadways this morning will need to drive with extra caution, especially if your travels take you northbound or westbound. While driving through the fog, it's going to be important to travel with your low beams on. And yes, even if you're traveling through the fog during daylight hours. Fog is made up of tiny water droplets. When bright lights hit those tiny water droplets, it reflects and spreads that light at a higher rate than the lights from your low-beams. So travel with your low beams, and make sure that you give yourself enough following distance from other cars just in case of an unexpected stop. This layer of fog should stick around into the late-morning hours.

Aside from taking it slow this morning, it would be a great idea to have the rain gear with you. Rain chances will quickly follow this morning's fog, as a mid-latitude cyclone, or a strong area of low-pressure, slides across the Midwestern states. As moisture swings around this low pressure system, this will lead to a round of light to moderate rain  during late morning hours. Hi-res models continue to show rain becoming more steady around mid-day, stretching into the afternoon. Once this low pressure system kicks off to the east of the Stateline, rain chances will begin to taper off throughout the evening commute. Cloud skies will linger into tonight, with another chance for fog to develop Thanksgiving morning. Most spots look to pick up an additional .25" to .50" of rainfall when this is all said and done. 

As for the upcoming holiday, the Stateline will wake up to a similar start on Thanksgiving. Model guidance continues to show plenty of moisture sticking around into Thursday morning, which will lead to thick cloud cover, and more dense fog. If you holiday plans take you out on the roadways early on Thanksgiving, you'll want to leave a bit early than scheduled, and take you time. However, Thanksgiving's gloomy start doesn't tell the tale for the rest of the holiday. As this area of low pressure pulls away, cloud cover will gradually clear somewhat, leading to a partly sunny afternoon. A southwest breeze will help pull in warmer temperatures, leading to highs topping out on either side of the 50-degree mark. Clouds will increase a little bit overnight Thursday into Friday morning, as a slow-moving cold front approaches.