Halloween weekend remains dry, but a cooler air mass settles in for the start of November

 

Low pressure passing well south of the Stateline Thursday and Friday will bring another round of rain to northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.  The rain won't be quite as heavy as this past Sunday and Monday, but is expected to be widespread through Friday afternoon.  Rainfall totals will settle right around half an inch, with a few locations possibly coming close to three quarters of an inch.

The steadier rain will come to an end Friday afternoon but rain showers will linger through Friday evening.  Winds are also expected to increase through Friday, gusting from the northeast around 35 mph.  The winds won't be quite as gusty Friday evening, but it will be rather damp and blustery.  The cloud cover is expected to remain through the first half of the day Saturday before clearing out Saturday afternoon.  Highs Saturday warm close to 60 degrees.  Halloween will be a little breezy with a northwest wind, but we stay dry.  High temperatures will reach the mid 50s during the afternoon.

A cold front is forecast to move through Sunday morning with colder air settling in Sunday night Monday.  Temperatures Sunday night will drop near freezing.  The strength of the cold air next week is a little hard to determine as models differ still on just how cold temperatures will fall, but highs in the 40s are a good bet, which would be close to 10 degrees below normal for the beginning of November. 

The cold front on Sunday will come through dry and will settle just to our south Monday and Tuesday.  Weaker low pressure systems moving along the front will bring rain to areas south of the region Monday afternoon and evening.  However, depending on the depth of the cold and dry air behind the front, it's possible we end up on the far northern edge of precipitation - most likely rain at this point - Monday into Monday night.  However, with overnight lows falling to, or below, freezing it is possible that a few snowflakes could mix in.  That chance, at this point in time, looks to be low.  Another system moving in Wednesday could also bring us a few showers for the afternoon.  High temperatures look to remain below average through the first week of November, warming close to average (right around 50 degrees leading into the second week of the November.