Cooler pattern sets in for the upcoming week

 

Temperatures will take a little bit of a dip, falling below average for the start of the week.  Departing low pressure Sunday has taken away the heavy rainfall, but left us with an abundance of cloud cover for much of our Sunday afternoon.  And with the tail end of the low spinning over the eastern Great Lakes a few isolated showers have developed, moving across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.  While most areas will remain dry through Sunday evening, light showers will continue to pivot around the low after sunset.  The chance for showers will last through about 10pm-12am, with mostly cloudy skies expected overnight.  Temperatures will dip into the mid 40s by Monday morning. 

Highs Sunday officially reached 61 degrees in Rockford, but that was just before 6am.  We spent much of the afternoon with temperatures in the 50s.  And that will be a common theme throughout the week as a cooler pattern settles in across the Midwest and Great Lakes.  Skies are expected to start off mostly cloudy Monday as low pressure settles to the north over Wisconsin.  Westerly winds will gust in, at times, around 30 mph throughout the afternoon.  As a little more dry air moves in during the afternoon and evening, we should slowly begin to see our skies clear, or at least turn partly cloudy, Monday night. 

That low, however, will help pull down a cooler air mass which will hold temperatures throughout the week in the low to mid 50s, falling below the average high of 58-60 degrees.  High temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday may only reach the low 50s.  Overnight low will also be chilly, dipping into the low to mid 30s. 

Tuesday night low temperatures could come close for the risk of frost overnight, but winds may be

elevated just enough to prevent any significant development.  It's not uncommon to still get a frost, or freeze, during the month of April.  On average, our last Spring freeze (32 degrees) typically occurs within the last week of April, but has occurred as late as the end of May.  The average last Spring hard freeze (28 degrees) occurs a little sooner and around the second week of the month, but has also occurred as late as early May.  Any seasoned gardener knows that it is best to wait until the threat for any heavy frost, or freeze, is done before planting.  Usually around Mother's Day weekend is when it is safe to begin - unless you're planting a hardier plant.