Sunny, Spring-Like Week Ahead

The mild, sunny weather that the Stateline has seen quite a lot of over the past week won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

On Saturday, the city of Rockford reached a high temperature of 44° making it the sixth consecutive day with at, or above, normal temperatures. It was also the warmest Saturday in Rockford since December 19^th when the high temperature was also 44°. 40’s should return for most of the Stateline on Sunday though much of the area will likely be stuck in the upper 30’s. Following a chance for some light morning showers, cloudy skies will slowly thin out through the rest of the day leaving mostly clear conditions overhead through the night. Temperatures will likely be dropping back below normal on Monday with highs expected to be in the middle to upper 30’s as a result of a cold frontal passage. Temperatures recover quickly though with a large mid-upper level trough forming aloft and a strong system of high pressure moving to our southeast bringing the Stateline strong southeasterly flow. Highs on Tuesday are expected to return to the lower to middle 40’s. The warm air aloft will keep flowing into the area for Wednesday and Thursday with lower 50’s expected on Wednesday and lower to middle 50’s forecast for Thursday. A system of high pressure moving in from the north will work to advect cool air into the Midwest for Friday and Saturday cooling conditions down a bit just in time for the weekend. Although, temperatures are still forecast to remain above normal with highs forecast in the middle 40’s.

In addition to the warmth, plenty of sunshine is also in store for the upcoming week as the Midwest will be dominated by high pressure through the end of the week. This begins following the cold frontal passage late Sunday into early Monday. A strong high pressure system will be moving in from the west behind the storm system for the latter half of Monday. Air over the Stateline will quickly dry out as a result and keep clouds and precipitation away. This same high pressure system will be keeping the area dry and sunny through Tuesday as the system moves to the southeast and helps the cooler temperatures to recover. A bit more moisture aloft will be moving in on Wednesday after being carried over from the Pacific Northwest by the jet stream. Some added vorticity brought on by the right entrance region of a jet streak will promote mixing and help bring a few more clouds to the area for the day and last through Thursday. More dry air will be introduced to the Stateline from the north by a large system of high pressure inching into the far northern Midwest. This should bring mostly sunny conditions back to the region to begin the weekend.