Period of strong winds possible Monday, wind advisory issued

 Monday will be a windy day across the Stateline, with some areas now seeing a wind advisory in place. Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Ogle, Lee, and DeKalb Counties in Illinois will see that wind advisory run from 9AM to 6PM Monday, while Walworth County in Southeastern Wisconsin begins at 8AM and runs to 6PM.

The strongest of the wind gusts will be focused on the Northeastern portions of the viewing area, hence the limited coverage of the wind advisory. Those within the orange shaded area, from Monroe, WI down to Dixon, IL and areas East have the strongest potential to see peak gusts near 45 mph or greater out of the West-Southwest or Southwest. Elsewhere, peak gusts could still reach 35-40 mph. The time frame of the strongest winds looks to arrive by early afternoon.

Southwest or WSW direction of these strong winds will heavily dictate temperatures for the next couple of days. Monday and Tuesday could see afternoon highs reach well into the 40s, especially if we see more sunshine than cloud cover. Wednesday will also be breezy, with peak gusts near 20-30 mph, but this time from the Northwest. That will bring a brief cool-down with highs returning to the 30s.

One of the reasons for the strong winds is due to a feature called atmospheric mixing. This is when the air masses often mix down to the surface, drawing some portion of the wind speeds with it. In this case tomorrow, we will have strong winds of around 60 mph only a mile or so up in the atmosphere. The mixing down of those winds is what will bring 40-45 mph gusts to the surface. The more sunshine we see, the less cloud cover there is to block that mixing from occurring. Therefore, more sunshine can lead to warmer surface temperatures and in this case, stronger winds.

Though we will remain windy over the next couple of days, our precipitation chances are limited. Along a weak cold front Monday afternoon, we may see a few sprinkles or flurries try to work toward the surface, but these would be very light and scattered in nature if we see anything. There is a similar trend for a precipitation chance Wednesday morning, but widespread chances could return late in the week.