Winds remain breezy as northern Illinois's next snow chance inches closer

Hats have been flying and garbage cans have been toppling over as we haven't seen much of a break from gusty winds this week.

Yesterday marked the second time in 4 days where the Rockford Airport came in with a peak wind gust at or above the 40 mph mark. Now on the flip side, yesterday's warm southwesterly wind did help bring some of our locales into the low 60s.

A pair of cold fronts will help continue this gusty stretch into our Wednesday. However, it will be a much cooler wind out of the northwest. 

This will not only limit high temperatures to the upper 30s, close to 40°, but it will also keep wind chill values in the 20s. All in all, dress warmly but also have a pair of sunglasses as plenty of sunshine is also on the table for today.

Today's gusty wind will ease up during the evening hours, leaving winds light for tonight. We do see them shift to the northeast, allowing low temperatures to fall back into the low 20s by daybreak. 

Clouds are also expected to increase, leaving us under a mostly cloudy sky for Thursday. This will have no impact on our temperatures climb as highs will once again peak near the 40° mark.

From there, a potent clipper system diving in from Canada will bring our next chance for precipitation, mainly in form of wet snow. Snow becomes likely prior to the morning commute, transitioning to a light wintry mix by mid-morning.

Forecast models have been placing the surface low right over I-80, which would put areas along and north of highway 20 under the greatest potential for accumulation snow. It's in these areas where 1"-3" totals will be likely, with isolated 4" totals somewhere across southern and central Wisconsin. Of course, any shift in the storm's track could shift the axis of heavier snow in either direction, so this forecast is indeed subject to change. Temperatures will remain in the upper 30s, close to 40°, falling back into the upper 30s for Saturday.