Highs Tuesday reach 40 degrees

 

Despite the cloud cover Tuesday afternoon high temperatures warmed into the upper 30s, with a few locations hitting the 40-degree mark. This is the first 40-degree high temperature for Rockford so far this year, and the first 40-degree high temperature since the end of December 2023.

Clouds will stick around through the night as overnight lows dip into the upper 20s. Wednesday will feature a cloudy start, but we skies should clear by the afternoon. The faster the cloud cover clears, the warmer afternoon temperatures will get. If, however, clouds are slow to clear then highs are likely to remain in the 30s.

A backdoor cold front moving in from the northeast Thursday will shift the southwest wind from Wednesday afternoon to the northeast. This will also give us a little more cloud cover for the afternoon. Temperatures, however, should still warm into the 40s. Highs Saturday and Sunday could even come close to 50 degrees, depending on the cloud cover.

Strong winds in the jet stream will move across northern Mexico late in the week. This will help carve

out a ridge of high pressure over the Great Lakes and Midwest this weekend. The ridge will hold strong through the weekend and into next week which will help keep temperatures well above average through the first full week of February. We may begin to see a little bit of a pattern change after the 8th or 9th of the month which could feature temperatures returning back close to average (low 30s) during that time.