Friday was a very warm and windy day in the Stateline with highs in the upper 70s for most. In Rockford, we set a new record high for today's date! 80° was today's high, breaking the previous record of 79° set back in 1910.
The record warmth was brought to us by a large area of warm air South of a warm front that passed through Friday morning. That front will have big implications on our forecast through the weekend-- for temperatures and precipitation. Overnight, the front will remain well to the North, keeping some spots in the upper 50s for overnight lows!
We will remain dry throughout the night, but scattered showers will make their return through the daytime hours of Saturday. It will not be raining the entire day, but increased moisture South of the warm front will allow for periodic showers. These should gradually increase in coverage throughout the day and continue into the night. High temperatures will be near 70° on Saturday.
Sunday will bring additional showers and a storm chance midday as well. Between mid-morning and early afternoon, there is a narrow window for a few strong to severe storms. Additional showers will remain possible into the evening as well, but any local severe threat will have ended by the late afternoon. Temperatures will reach into the mid-60s early on but will quickly fall through the evening.
Multiple things will have to line up for this severe weather chance to come to fruition locally. With the wave arriving early in the day with some showers ongoing beforehand, coverage of storms may be limited locally. Nonetheless, the latest outlook from the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted parts of the Stateline under a Level 1/5 Marginal Risk (in green) or Level 2/5 Slight Risk (yellow) for severe weather. Higher chances for severe weather will remain to the South and East with more favorable timing, as a Level 3/5 Enhanced Risk (brown) encompasses much of downstate Illinois into Indiana.
Locally, we could also see a brief flip to a wintry mix Sunday night into Monday as colder air quickly wraps in the back side of the system. Any snow mixing in would not last long into Monday morning with drier air quickly ending precipitation. Afternoon highs will only reach the 40s Monday.
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