Wednesday morning chills

Temperatures early Wednesday morning dropped into the middle 40s in many locations surrounding Rockford giving this morning more of a late September/early October feel than the middle of August!  Lows tonight will be cool once again but shouldn't be quite as cold as what was felt this morning.  On the bright side, it could have been worse.  Places in north-central Wisconsin broke record low temperatures as the mercury dropped into the low 30s!  Yikes!!

A Chilly Forecast For Tonight

Unusually cool weather for August is about to ramp up a notch Tuesday night.

The official temperature forecast for Rockford Tuesday night sits at 50°, but as you can see from our Futurecast model, lows dipping into the 40s will be widespread across the area, especially rural spots.

Futurecast Temps for Wednesday Morning

The cause of this cool blast is high pressure to our north, which is pulling in much cooler air from Canada. As this area of high pressure begins to shift to our east later in the week, expect temps to return to normal.

Back to School: Bus Stop Forecast

Many youngsters will be headed back to school within the next week or two eager to learn and excited to make new friends.  To help the little ones decide the best and coolest outfit to wear for the day I'll be showing a Bus Stop Forecast in the morning between 5-7:30am.  But not just any bus stop forecast!  It will be your child's bus stop forecast!  All you have to do snap a photo of your child getting ready for school.  It can be a picture of them with their back pack, holding up their new lunch box or just a picture of their bright and smiling face.  Be sure to email your photos with the child's first name to: weather@wtvo.com.  The bus stop forecast will start Monday, August 26th.

After today forecast looks fairly dry

Cold front currently sits just south of the state line with winds already shifting to the north in southern Wisconsin as well as at Freeport and Rockford.  Skies have remained fairly quiet through the majority of the morning but a few very light radar returns are starting to develop across southeast Wisconsin and are moving east.  I anticipate the coverage of showers, and a few storms, to increase slightly through the afternoon - especially for areas south and east of Rockford.  Should thunderstorms develop they would move from west to east and follow the flow within the jet stream.  Storm coverage isn't expected to be great and only widely scattered showers/storms are likely across Northern and Northeast Illinois.

After today any prospect of rain really decreases as strong Canadian high pressure builds into the Great Lakes keeping the strongest winds within the jet stream well south of the Stateline.  A couple disturbances leading up to the weekend could bring a shower close to the Stateline but any hopes of decent, measurable rain doesn't look too promising.  While the drier days have been nice we are in need of rain.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll receive any until possibly next week!

Mild Trend Continues

Heat seekers, I've got bad news.  The trend of unseasonably cool weather continues.  In fact, compare this year to last year and it's kind of pitiful, really.  In the entire 2013 year, we've only had a week's worth of temps above 90°. Two rogue days in May and June and then the 5 day heat wave in mid July.

This is all due to a nagging trough that's been situated over the eastern part of the United States for most of the summer.  Amplified troughs and ridges are defined by the jet stream--aka high winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere.  The jet stream divides air masses, so south of the jet stream, folks can expect hot weather and folks north of the jet stream can expect cool weather.  Obviously, we've been in the cool portion of the jet stream for some time now!

Jet Stream Pattern Mid week

We barely skim the 80° the next seven days as high pressure takes control causing mostly clear skies with cool nights and mild days. - MT

Updated Hurricane Outlook

The National Hurricane Center recently amended their 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Forecast.  They still expect an above average amount of storms, but downgraded the amount of major hurricanes from 3-6, predicted in May, to 3-5.  So far, we've only seen 4 tropical storms in the Atlantic Basin--Andrea, Barry, Chantal & Dorian--but there's still plenty of time for development.  The season officially ends on the last day of November.  Click here to read the full updated report. - MT

Official Forecast - National Hurricane Center

Great Stargazing This Weekend!

The weekend forecast is looking pretty good, especially if you are a stargazer. The Perseid Meteor Shower is set to peak over the weekend and Monday night. Here's what you need to know if you want to check it out.

The Perseids can be seen in the vicinity of the constellation Perseus over the next several nights. During its peak, over 100 meteors can be seen in an hour.

Courtesy: StarDate Magazine

So keep an eye to the northeast sky and have a great weekend! -BA