First Warn Weather Team

Friday, April 19, 2013

Check the calendar...Snow on April 19th?

From spring time floods to winter time precipitation - these past three days have been anything but boring! A very strong cold front moved through Thursday late afternoon/early evening with a funnel of cold air moving into the Stateline ever since. Temperatures several thousand feet above remain very cold and this has fueled the snow showers, graupel and snow pellets we've experienced this morning and will likely continue into the afternoon. Temperatures remain in the upper 30s and likely won't climb much further going into the afternoon. The wintry precipitation will mix with scattered showers as the temperature continues to rise this afternoon before ending once the sun sets. Amounts won't be much but there have been some reports of light accumulating snow in some locations.

Along with the snow, graupel and snow pellets the wind has been quite fierce with wind gusts nearing 40 mph. Winds will remain gusty going into the afternoon and not really calm until after midnight tonight. Going into the weekend the weather looks to remain a little more quiet. Temperatures will remain cool but the sunshine should return Saturday. However, there does look to be another system moving in sometime during the late Monday night - Wednesday timeframe bringing another round of rain to the area.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Stateline Flooding Photos - Thursday

If you have any pictures of flooding, please send them to weather@wtvo.com. Thanks!

Jean Voss in Beloit - Pelicans on the Rock River

Jean Voss in Beloit - Preservation Park in Beloit Township

Nick Self in Roscoe - Bridge Street And Riverside Park

Rich Barclay - South Beloit

Galena Street Bridge in Dixon

Dixon - Flooded Walk Path

Strong Winds Possible This Evening

A thin line of heavy showers associated with our next cold front is working its way through the Stateline, and it's packing some strong winds with it. Wind gusts of 50mph were reported when it moved through Iowa earlier this afternoon. The good news is these winds only last for a few minutes before dissipating.

Precision Doppler at 4:27pm

If this line holds, it should impact Rockford between 5:30 and 6:00pm. Stay alert with this! A few showers will still be possible after this line moves through, but will have little impact on us heading into Friday.

Current River Levels: Moderate Flooding Occurring

Rainfall totals from Wednesday to today across northern Illinois have ranged between 3" and 4" with slightly less amounts falling north across Wisconsin. The heavy rainfall from this morning has ended with only a few showers, and possibly a thunderstorm, expected this afternoon. The majority of Flash Flood Watches have been cancelled, but Flood Warnings continue for the Rock, Pecatonica and Kishwaukee Rivers along with Flash Flood Warnings for DeKalb and Lee counties until 8pm this evening. Flood Warnings for Urban areas and small streams continue for Boone, Lee, McHenry, DeKalb, Ogle and Winnebago counties until 7:30pm. Emergency management officials have reported flooding across these areas.

Any additional rainfall today should remain under half an inch. Ongoing thunderstorms through Michigan, Indiana and central Illinois will continue to move east as low pressure lifts out of Iowa and into northern Illinois this afternoon. Cloud cover will help keep the atmosphere fairly stable despite the strong lift with the low and should any stronger storms develop they will remain east and south of the Stateline.

Of bigger concern is the ongoing flooding across north-central Illinois. Several locations along the Rock River have reached moderate flood stage with expected rises to continue into the weekend.
Current river observation for the Rock River at Byron show the rise in the river from yesterday to today. Current river level at 11:15am is 15.03' with higher end moderate flooding already occurring. Major flood level is 16' and the forecast calls for the river to rise to 18.5' and crest Saturday afternoon with major flooding.

Current river level of the Rock River at Latham Park, in Machesney Park, is 11.84' with moderate flooding occurring. The river is expected to crest at 14.1' Saturday. Major flooding is expected over the weekend and into early next week.

The Pecatonica River in Freeport is currently at 13.45' and is expected to crest Sunday at 15.5' pushing the river into moderate flood stage. I wouldn't be surprised to actually see the crest levels rise over the next day to higher levels as water continues to runoff into the rivers. Once past the weekend the rivers will remain very elevated with only a gradual decrease by the end of next week.