Tuesday Afternoon Video Update

Tuesday Morning Weather Update

The heavy rain from earlier this morning has moved on but now the dense fog has moved in.  Visibility has dropped to less than half a mile in many locations across Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin.  The dense fog will gradually lift around 9am but until then take it easy, especially on the back/country roads.

Active Weather Week Ahead!

Showers will begin to flare up around the Stateline tomorrow as winds shift out of the south on the back end of the high pressure.  This will bring more moisture into the area--one of the ingredients to get some rain going. Expect showers to start north in the morning and then shift towards the rest of the Stateline in the afternoon and evening.

Winds Shift from the South Monday

Winds out of the south are not enough to spark showers.  The jet stream will be directly overhead allowing for the clouds to bubble up and cause some widespread rainfall. Jet streams are very high winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere that steer storms.  Therefore, expect the rain to advance from Minnesota into Wisconsin overnight and then bleed into the Stateline throughout Monday.

Sat/Rad from Sunday evening / Jet Stream Location

How much rainfall am I thinking? Historically, computer models do not handle upper-level disturbances well--like what we'll be seeing tomorrow.  That being said, after analyzing 13 different computer models, there is a huge disparity.  On the low end of things, one model indicated that we would get under 1/4" rain through Wednesday.  While another thought we would exceed 3"! When averaging all 13 models together, the general consensus is over an inch of rain through Wednesday.  Either way, it looks like we're in for some rainfall through midweek.

After the upper-level disturbance passes through our area late Monday, a warm front will lift through on Tuesday and Wednesday bringing more showers and thunderstorms.  The end of your work week looks quite dry though! - MT

Enjoyable Lollapalooza Weekend

If you're a regular attendee of Chicago's annual Lollapalooza, you may notice that this weekend has been quite enjoyable compared to years past.  When analyzing the maximum high temp in the 3-day festival, this year has been the coolest in recent history.

Some may remember last year's intense heat wave during Lollapalooza; temps peaked in the mid90s.  When we have that kind of heat, concert-goers have to be seriously concerned about heat-related illnesses.  Also during the 2012 festival, an intense storm rolled through the city on Saturday August 4th.  A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for downtown Chicago including Grant Park, where the event is held.  100,000 fans had to be evacuated for hours due to 70mph winds tearing through the city.  Check out the storm rolling through the city last year. - MT

 

Festa Italiana Forecast

Heading out to Festa Italiana this weekend? Make sure to check out this great forecast before you go!

The only concern with the forecast will be the chance of a few showers Friday evening. Fortunately, it looks like most of our rain chances will stay south before drying out overnight. Otherwise, a nice and comfortable weekend is on tap for the rest of the festival. Enjoy! -BA

Consistently Cooler than... ALASKA??

If you're looking for the summer heat, you can go somewhere unexpected: Alaska!  For nearly a week, the Stateline has had cooler high temperatures than those of Fairbanks, AK.  In fact, the last time we even reached our average high temperature was back on July 22--over ten days ago! Even with the heatwave we experienced in mid-July (where temps reaching the mid 90s five days in a row), July still ended with below average temps.

Comparison

It looks like the below average temperature trend continues.  Our average high temp in early August should be 83°, and I don' have us reaching temps like that until possibly Tuesday next week.-MT

7-Day Stateline Outlook

July Recap + Wet Friday Setup

The average July temperature was the coolest in four years and actually fell below the normal average temperature!  The average takes the mean of the low and high temp of each day for the entire month. Even though we had a stretch of 90°+ days in mid-July, it was not enough to keep the overall average above the normal.  The last time we had a cooler July was was back in 2009.

A look back at July

Thursday looks pleasant with temps in the low 80s around the Stateline and ample sunshine.  However, in the overnight hours to Friday, a warm front will lift north providing scattered rainfall and embedded thunderstorms that will linger through early Saturday morning. - MT

Weather set up on Friday