Warmer Week Ahead, Few Late-Week Chances

Much Cooler Monday: 

Yesterday's organized southwest breeze brought a more comfortable day across the area. Officially, the Rockford International Airport peaked at 38-degrees, landing 7-degrees above average. 

This was all ahead of a disturbance that tracked to our north, allowing a cold front to slide through the western Great Lakes late in the evening. Ever since the frontal passage, temperatures have been gradually cooling, with most of our spots landing in the teens this morning. That, along with single-digit wind chills will be enough for you to put on a few extra layers before leaving for school or work. While the start of the work week will be a cold one, the rest of the work week believe it or not features highs at or above the seasonable mark. 

As yesterday's cold front pulls away from the Stateline, this morning's cloud cover will give way to mixed sunshine for the afternoon. Despite the additional sunshine, an organized northwesterly wind will keep our highs in the lower 30s. 

Thankfully, this "cool-down" is expected to only stick around for Monday as winds will again reorganize out of the south/southwest overnight. This will help temperatures gradually climb as we enter the early stages of our Tuesday. Despite the fact that there’s expected to be quite a bit of cloud cover Tuesday, highs will quickly climb out of the 20s and back into the upper 30s. A trend that is expected to stick around into the middle of the work week ahead of our next frontal passage.

Late-Week Chances:

Guidance shows the first of two cold fronts diving down from the Upper Midwest late Wednesday into Thursday morning. Behind the frontal passage comes another round of cooler air. 

However, It won’t be as cold as what the Stateline will encounter today, though temperatures will end up closer to the seasonable mark. A potent, fast moving clipper system will bring the Stateline it's best chances for precipitation, mainly during the Thursday and Friday time-frame. Temperatures overnight Thursday look to slowly rise thanks to the lingering southwest wind ahead of our second cold front.

This means that we will be looking at a chance for some light snow at first, with the possibility raining may mix in as temperatures begin to warm early Friday morning. With that being said, we're still a couple of days away from the actual event so aspects of the forecast can change. However, it does look like a strong round of cold air filters in behind Friday's cold front, bringing highs back into the 20s for the weekend.