A mammoth spring storm comes onto the Chicago weather scene the next two days. Warming ahead of the system produced the beautiful opening day weather Tuesday White Sox fans and all of us here in Chicago and across the Midwest have enjoyed.
But far more humid 60-degree dew point air arrives Tuesday night. It’s dew points at or above 60-degrees which introduce that wonderful “spring feel” we so long for after the chilly days of winter and early spring. But this sort of humid arrive arrives at a cost, in this case, the threat of active thunderstorms and potential severe weather–even the spin-up of some tornadoes.
Biggest Risk of Severe Storms Wednesday Afternoon
Here’s the thinking at the moment on time. Some scattered showers, possibly a thunderstorm, may be traversing parts of the Chicago area in the 7 a.m. -noon time frame and into the early afternoon. There will be rain-free intervals between these showers and these are not the main event.
Day #2 severe weather risk. The highest probability for severe storms is downstate southward into the Deep South–but the Chicago area is at risk–with an ENHANCED RISK over the southern suburbs including northwest and western Indiana and a SLIGHT RISK over Chicago and north into Wisconsin and Michigan. This Day #2 forecast extends fro Wed through Wed night and covers the 24 hour period from 7am CDT Wed to 7am CDT Thu
The potential for heavier storms is currently modeled during the 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. period, with current indicators pointing to the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. period being at highest risk. Storms may be occurring earlier than that to Chicago’s south and west.
If we can get past 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. Wednesday night, we’re likely to be out of the potential for severe weather.
Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog
Gusty Winds Follow Thursday
High, non-thunderstorm winds follow Thursday afternoon and night.
Powerful winds, the product of winds westerly winds stacked tens of thousands of feet through the atmosphere, begin to gust above 40 mph by Thursday afternoon. It’s at that time wind gusts may grow even stronger and last into Thursday night. Gusts topping 50 mph aren’t out of the question.
And then…snow?
The next system to watch could be a snow or wintry mix producer Monday.
It gets harder to get snow to accumulate as we continue to move forward at this time of year. But there can still be wet flakes of snow which fall. And Chicagoans know all too well flurries have occurred in some years into early May.
There is, and has been in recent days, some model agreement a chilly system may generate some wet snow or a wintry mix Sunday night into Monday. It will be interesting to keep an eye on forecast trends on that system in the days which follow.