Damaging wind gusts possible Wednesday evening and overnight

While record warmth will occur Wednesday afternoon, the warm up comes with a lot of wind!  A HIGH WIND WARNING has been issued for Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and Whiteside counties and a HIGH WIND WATCH for Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Ogle, Lee and DeKalb counties in northern Illinois, as well as for Green, Rock and Walworth counties in southern Wisconsin.  The watch and warning begins Wednesday late afternoon and will last through 6am Thursday.

A rapidly deepening area of low pressure will quickly move out of the Rockies Wednesday, lifting through Nebraska and into northwest Iowa by Wednesday evening.  The quick intensification of the low Wednesday evening, combined with a very strong jet stream aloft, will cause wind speeds to increase through the evening and early overnight.

Not only are the winds in the jet stream going to be racing in over 100 mph across the Plains, but winds in the lower levels of the atmosphere will also be very strong, especially Wednesday evening and early overnight (through Midnight).

Peak wind gusts of 50-60 mph will be possible through Wednesday night before subsiding some Thursday morning.  Difficult driving conditions, especially for high profile vehicles (in all road directions), sporadic power outages, unsecured outdoor objects flying around, downed tree limbs/branches, as well as possible damage to siding and roof shingles, are all possible Wednesday!