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Here’s the NWS GFS model’s projection of the average temp departure over the coming 5 days (through Monday morning). Note that by the time this week closes, its average temp of 68.8-deg F (for the Monday through Saturday period) is to come in at 68.8-deg—up nearly 20-deg from the average of 48.5-deg last week. And that’s even with the current cool spell taken into account. Shows how the early week and coming weekend’s warmth impacts the full week average temp.
Warmth will return to the Chicago area amid powerful winds this weekend.
We’ve said good-bye to Tuesday’s warmth in dramatic fashion and must suffer through cool days the remainder of the work week–particularly along Lake Michigan. But modeling continues signaling an equally dramatic resurgence of warmth. It’s a temp surge projected to occur amid roaring winds likely to gust from the “SSW” to over 40 mph Saturday and remain elevated Sunday.
While some spells of precip are to occur in Chicago into Thursday morning, the soaking rains we so sorely need once again miss to the South. Having said that, we’re getting precip numbers in the 0.15 to 0.45″ range here in Chicago through Thursday morning.
The heaviest rainfall is forecast to fall downstate. We could sure use some of that rain here as we continue to run the driest spring on the books here in 106 years.
Temps will flirt with 80 degrees Saturday and are likely to enter the 80s Sunday when dew points, a measure of atmospheric moisture, are to surge into the 60s.
It will give the air a warm, springlike feel. The arrival of higher humidities add to the the “warm feel” of warm air masses. It should be a great weekend for the opening of our Chicago harbors.
We’ll have another shot at rain and thunderstorms in the Sunday night through Monday time frame–and may even be clipped by a second rain system the first half of next week–so we’ll keep a close eye on how forecast scenarios evolve on those systems.
