Cool, windy, and wet pattern ahead this week

 Following some early day showers through Sunday evening, skies will gradually clear from North to South behind a passing front. This clearing will allow temperatures to drop into the 30s, meeting the dew point numbers. High humidity will result, and that paired with light winds will allow for some areas of fog to develop overnight. The highest coverage of any fog will be North of I-88, where clouds will clear quicker.

Morning fog will be replaced by rain showers by the late morning or early afternoon as the frontal boundary lifts back North amid a strengthening surface low pressure to the West. We may see a lapse in precipitation rates by late afternoon, but the evening brings steady to heavy rain with even a few embedded thunderstorms. Total rainfall may exceed 0.5-1.0" for some, with highest totals likely across Northwestern Illinois.

 

Monday will also be very breezy, especially during the latter part of the day. Temperatures will reach the mid-50s by the evening. Winds could gust to 30 mph by then, and around 35 mph overnight. This wind combined with the clouds and rain will not allow temperatures to fall very far Monday night, as they may actually rise overnight before reaching near 60° on Tuesday.

Winds will be one of the keys for the forecast this week, as we could see peak wind gusts near 20-30 mph Tuesday and Wednesday, then 20-35 mph Thursday. The direction of the wind will be the bigger factor into the forecast, though. The Southwest wind on Tuesday keeps us warm with highs near 60°. Westerly winds on Wednesday and Northwest winds on Thursday will help to usher in a cooler air mass, with highs in the 40s both of those days!

With temperatures that cool, we *may* even see the potential for a few snowflakes to mix in Wednesday night or Thursday morning, as moisture will linger on the Western edge of a developing low pressure to the East of us. During the daytime hours on Wednesday and Thursday, it will be too warm for snow, but we may get just cold enough Wednesday night for a few flurries to mix in! Any snow we do see will be very unlikely to stick, given the warm weather prior to this system. But the cooler weather will hang around all week, with highs in the 40s through next weekend.