Midweek storm brings threat for rain, freezing rain, snow and sleet to the Stateline

 

The several inches of snowfall from late last week continues to melt away as temperatures both Saturday and Sunday warmed into the 40s, reaching the upper 40s Sunday afternoon! Skies will remain quiet and dry through the night Sunday as cloud cover increases. As the cloud cover clears out early Monday, we should see temperatures drop back into the middle 20s. If the clouds hang on a little longer then overnight lows are likely to remain in the 30s.

Monday will be dry but feature a little more cloud cover during the afternoon. As the winds turn back around to the south, temperatures will climb back into the low to mid 40s. Tuesday will start off quiet, but it will not end that way. A large storm system will impact much of the Midwest and Great Lakes midweek, bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain and rainfall to many. Thunderstorms are even possible, but further downstate.

Highs on Tuesday won't be quite as warm, reaching only the middle 30s following the passage of a cold front Monday evening. As that boundary sinks south of the Stateline, it'll be pulled slightly back to the north with an incoming low-pressure system from the southwest. Unfortunately, it looks like the front may get hung up right near the state line, leaving temperatures north of the boundary in Wisconsin cold enough to support all snow - and heavy snow at that - with more mixed precipitation falling across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. With temperatures hovering very close to freezing throughout the day Wednesday, and warmer air moving in above the surface, it sets the stage for a period of freezing rain (and possibly sleet) to occur during the afternoon and evening, with the risk for accumulating freezing rain.

The finer details of the storm system need to be worked out, and this could change as we get closer to the Tuesday/Wednesday time frame. While freezing rain is definitely a possibility, and concern, the amount of warm air coming in aloft could fall at a heavy enough rate to lessen the risk for freezing rain. If that were to occur, the majority of the precipitation would fall as mostly rain, especially later in the day.

Either way, another impactful storm system is set to move in by the middle of the week. Winds both on Wednesday and Thursday are going to remain gusty, first from the northeast Wednesday and then west/northwest Thursday. If we do get any accumulating freezing rain, the potential for power outages will exist. Please continue to monitor the forecast as we continue to make adjustments over the next couple of days.