Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Strong winds continue Wednesday ahead of storms Wednesday night

 


Temperatures Tuesday afternoon warmed well above the average high of 56 degrees, climbing all the way into the low 80s. Rockford's high temperature reached 81 degrees which tied the previous record for the 29th of October set all the back in 1922! Strong southerly winds will help keep temperatures in the 60s through the overnight.

Wednesday will be another warm and windy day as temperatures reach 80 degrees once again. Southwest winds will continue to gust around 35 mph, peaking near 40-45 mph at times through the afternoon. Skies will remain dry, but cloudy, as moisture slowly begins to work in from the west and southwest. This is ahead of a cold front that'll move across the Midwest and into the Stateline late Wednesday night.


The timing of the front has started to slow down which means it'll move through early Thursday morning, passing to our east by late morning. With the slower arrival of the front most of our Wednesday evening will remain dry.

A line of strong to severe storms will develop quickly to the west of the Mississippi River during the afternoon, shifting east through sunset. Highest instability remains west of the region, but increasing winds aloft as the front passes through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin will keep the risk for damaging wind gusts overnight. This is why a 'marginal risk' is in place for the region Wednesday night. 


The line of storms will move into northwest Illinois between 8pm and 9pm, moving east through Midnight. There will be some showers and thunderstorms Thursday morning, but activity will move east through the morning. We may have to watch for a strong storm or two during the mid-morning hours, especially east of Rockford. 



West to northwest winds will increase behind the front causing temperatures Thursday to fall from the 60s during the morning, down into the 50s and then 40s by the evening. Winds will gust as high as 40 mph during the morning, but gusts around 35 mph can be expected through the afternoon. Temperatures will drop into the 30s Thursday night as high pressure moves in. Friday will be quite a bit cooler, but closer to average, with highs in the 50s.   

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