Here's a crazy statistic to kick off this blog post. The Chicago-Rockford International Airport has observed a whopping 3.13" of rainfall since the sun rose this past Sunday. Why is this stat important? Well, that means we've observed more rainfall in the past 4 days than we have during each month of the year. Our rain chances continue for one more day, as a slow-moving cold front finally takes it journey into the Stateline.
Ahead of this frontal boundary lies another hot and humid afternoon with temperatures for most topping out in the low 90s. Although the Stateline IS NOT under a Heat Advisory today, I would still make heat safety a big part of your late-day plans. Southwest winds will push dew points into the low to mid 70s, resulting in heat indices in the mid to upper 90s. The more oppressive heat has shifted to the south and to the east of the Stateline, as heat advisories and excessive heat warnings extend from the Midwest to New England. Most of your Thursday remains dry under a mix of clouds and sunshine. We may see a bit more cloud cover however once the evening hours come around thanks to the incoming cold front.
Late-Day T-storms:
Guidance suggests this frontal boundary sliding in late in the afternoon, allowing thunderstorm chances to begin by 3PM-4PM. Storms look to develop along and south of highway 20, tracking south-southeastward as we inch closer towards sunset. For the fourth straight day, our daily thunderstorm chances come with the potential for severe weather, with much of the region sitting under a Marginal Risk (level 1 of 5). Any storm that becomes severe will have the capability of producing damaging straight-line wind, small-sized hail, and heavy downpours. Chances will come to an end around 8PM-9PM, with conditions remaining partly cloudy overnight. We'll begin to feel the effects of today's cold front by Friday morning as temperatures drop into the low 60s.
For those that have been wanting a break from this excessive heat and humidity, I'm happy to say it's closer than you think. Following highs in the low 90s today, temperatures look to drop to more comfortable levels for the end of the work week and even over the weekend. An area of high pressure looks to slide in behind today's frontal passage, bringing along a dry stretch of weather to tag along with the cooler temperatures. Guidance keeps this high pressure system locked over the Great Lakes, keeping this dry pattern into the start of next week. Our next chance for rain doesn't arrive until next Wednesday. And even that chance looks very slim at the current moment.
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