Temperatures warm mid-week with rain kicking off the weekend

Even though we managed to squeeze out a few peaks of sunshine during the afternoon Monday, our skies were filled with plenty of cloud cover. Despite the clouds, however, temperatures were still able to manage the mid and upper 30s, reaching 40 degrees in Rockford. The cloud cover does stick around through much of the day Tuesday, slowly clearing Tuesday night as warm air returns not only aloft, but also down near the surface.  

This return of warmer air will help push temperatures into the upper 40s, to near 50 degrees, Wednesday and Thursday. There is a cold front, however, that comes through Wednesday evening so with that our winds shift around to the northeast Thursday afternoon. This won't bring a great drop in temperatures, though, and our skies are expected to remain dry through much of the week. The warm up later this week is a result of downsloping winds from the High Plains. Highs across the Plains warmed into the 50s and 60s Monday afternoon. We won't get quite that warm, but air sinking down from the Plains will compress, warming our temperatures Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday will also be a somewhat warm day but it will come with a decent chance for rain during the afternoon and evening. As the jet stream winds flatten a bit Thursday and Friday overhead, an area of low pressure will begin to lift up from the southwest Friday morning. As it does, it'll draw enough warm air up ahead of it to cause rain showers to overspread much of northern Illinois, possibly into southern and central Wisconsin. The track of the low will be key heading into the weekend as a more southern track could lead to more wintry weather closer to the Stateline. But as it looks like right now widespread rain will be likely for much of Friday.

As the low tracks a bit further east and northeast Saturday there may be enough cold air wrapping in on the backside to switch over the rain to snow, or at least allow for a rain/snow mix for a time Saturday afternoon. Winds will also pick up from the northwest throughout the day bringing temperatures down Saturday night, with highs warming only into the 30s for Sunday. A few flurries could fly Sunday as our flow in the jet stream remains a little unsettled.