Severe storms Wednesday afternoon followed by snow showers Wednesday night

 Cloud cover was a little more abundant Tuesday afternoon thanks to a warm front moving across northern Illinois. Temperatures were slow to warm initially but have now reached the mid and upper 60s late in the afternoon. A warm front sits close to the state line, expected to remain somewhat stationary through the night. It's possible the front dips south of the state line into northern Illinois before being pulled back north into Wisconsin Wednesday.

Skies will remain mostly cloudy through the night as temperatures dip on either side of 50 degrees. Winds have been somewhat breezy from the southeast throughout most of the afternoon and may increase slightly just before sunset, especially for areas south of Rockford. Skies will remain dry through the early overnight hours, but as increasing winds aloft begin to move closer to Iowa and northern Illinois, scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop. The highest coverage will initially start in northeast Iowa, moving into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois throughout the morning. The biggest threat with these storms would be hail as they remain north of the warm front and elevated.

There is then a conditional severe weather threat for northern Illinois Wednesday afternoon as an area of low pressure and cold front move in from the west. Dry air moving in behind the warm front would allow enough clearing to take place for instability to grow during the afternoon. If this occurs severe thunderstorms would be possible, developing as early as 2pm.

The Storm Prediction Center did shift the 'slight risk' outlook further north and west to now include locations mainly along and south of Highway 20. If we were to see severe thunderstorms, damaging winds would be our main concern - but the close proximity of the low and fronts would also allow for an isolated tornado threat into the afternoon.

If, however, the low shifts to the south it would not only keep our temperatures from reaching the 60s but also shift the afternoon severe storm threat south with it. Please make sure you're keeping up with the forecast Wednesday, especially if that severe threat grows. Our window for severe storms during the afternoon would be from about 2pm to 8pm.

Once the storm passes cold air will be quick to move in Wednesday night allowing snow showers to develop, and accumulate, through early Thursday. Northwest winds will also increase gusting as high as 45 mph after Midnight. This could impact travel through sunrise before the snow showers shift east mid-morning. Northwest winds will remain strong through 10am, with gusts settling around 25-30 mph during the afternoon.