Following our strong storm and severe weather threat Friday night (see previous article for details), we will maintain the chance for strong to damaging winds into early Saturday. Gusts may approach 50-60 mph at their strongest during the first half of Saturday.
The driver behind all of this is a strong jet stream aloft. This will help to support the intense low-pressure system bringing this weather our way and possibly mix some of those strong winds down to the surface.
One of the reasons for such strong winds is the sheer strength of the surface low pressure system. This system may reach a sea-level pressure of 980 mb, roughly equivalent to a category 1 hurricane! Now, the wind gusts will not nearly reach hurricane strength due to friction over the ground compared to water, but there will be a few windows of very strong winds Friday and Saturday.
Starting with Friday, we could see wind gusts upwards of 45-55 mph ahead of the series of cold fronts associated with the system. A WIND ADVISORY will go into effect for Northern Illinois starting Friday afternoon. This window will bring winds out of the South, aiding to boost temperatures. As such, we will see an elevated fire risk given the dry vegetation, low humidity, and strong wind gusts. Avoid any outdoor burning Friday!
Then Saturday will bring a period of potentially stronger winds. These will be synoptically driven, meaning more of the winds aloft will be drawn down to the surface. There is a chance we could see periodic damaging wind gusts upwards of 60 mph, but most of the gusts will fall within the 50-60 mph range. A HIGH WIND WATCH goes into effect Saturday, which will be converted to another wind advisory or high wind warning depending on confidence of gusts reaching or exceeding 55-60 mph.
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