Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible Wednesday evening. Lightning, downpours and strong wind gusts are possible.
Rain is needed – and we should get it
Needed rains, some potentially thundery, is in store too.
A compact spring storm could bring wind and rain over a portion of the weekend and could provide the biggest rains of coming days.
Have rain gear handy for our White Sox opener Thursday!
The woefully inadequate 1.25 inches of rain which has fallen since the start of meteorological/climatological spring which began back on March 1 is just 39% of the 3.20″ which is “normal” to date.
Modeling suggests some moisture relief may be on the way. No question that models tend to overestimate precip in a dry environment like the one we have going. But be that as it may, current projections suggest at least parts of the area may rack up 1 top 2.80″ tallies over the four days to come (i.e. through Sunday evening). We’ll see if that verifies, but it would definitely be nice to see some of that moisture actually show up.
More on the warm weather
The young month of April is running a stunning 11.2-degrees surplus to date and its opening seven days have averaged an impressive 5.6-degrees warmer than the same period a year ago.
About our 80s yesterday and (soon) today, an interesting fact from WGN weather producer Bill Snyder and meteorologist Steve Kahn of our staff. Back-to-back 80s–like the 81 yesterday and the 80 which is likely today—have occurred this early in a season only three other times over the 150 year Chicago observational record – in 2012, 2010 and 1929.
Cooler air blows back in
Warmth is to back off in stages into next week to the point modestly below normal daytime average temps are expected during next week. The northeast winds off Lake Michigan Saturday afternoon and night may produce an added level of “chill” coming off the cool waters of Lake Michigan as they will.
For the latest weather updates, go to wgnv.com/weather.