Bitterly Cold Wednesday, Pattern Turns A little More Active Towards Christmas

Big Difference This Week:

It seems like forever ago, but today marks exactly one week since much of the central U.S, including the Stateline, witnessed all-time record warmth. To quickly recap, last Wednesday's high temperature at the Rockford International Airport was balmy 69°, which ended up tying our all-time record high for the month of December. This Wednesday features a completely different forecast as yesterday's gusty winds have set the stage for a bitterly cold day across the region. 

Bitterly Cold Wednesday:

Bundle up folks! Temperatures early Wednesday morning are sitting in the low to mid teens, with wind chills values in the single-digits. Along with bundling up, you might want to give yourself a few extra minutes to warm your vehicle up, especially if it was left outside overnight. 

Behind yesterday's cold front, guidance shows another high pressure system sliding in from the Upper Midwest. This will bring sun-filled skies to the Stateline for our Wednesday. Even with the abundance of sunshine however, temperatures remain cold with highs in the low 30s. Clouds increase overnight, turning skies mostly cloudy as we head into our Thursday morning. This will bring temperatures up a bit overnight, with lows in the mid 20s. 

Little More Active:

Following today's bitterly cold, our weather warms up into the second half of work week. Along with the rise in temperatures comes a slightly more active weather pattern which features a few weak disturbances. The first coming in early tomorrow which may lead to a slim chance for a widely scattered and light wintry mix. 

If you plan on traveling during the morning hours, be on the lookout for icy/slick spots. The rest of Thursday remains dry, quiet, and ice-free.  A second storm system quickly develops behind it, moving in during the day on Friday. Forecast models this morning trended weaker with this storm system, only bringing a chance for a few showers during the afternoon. Temperatures continue to rise as highs will end up on either side of the 50-degree mark.

Christmas Day-Cast:

While the rain chances trend downward for Christmas eve, that can't be said about Christmas Day itself. As of this morning, I left is a slight chance for either light rain or a rain/snow mix as a quick-moving storm system slides into the western Great lakes from the central plains.

The one component of the forecast that models were in disagreement with was the overall track of this storm system. One being more north than the other. With that being said, if we do end up with any precipitation chances, temperatures mild enough to prevent icy road conditions. Highs will take a small drop into the low 40s.