FEBRUARY IS ALMOST OVER

Happy Friday!  I'm not a person who likes to wish time away, but I would like to wish our cold weather away.  But that is not going to happen this weekend.  Our average high temperatures this weekend are in the upper 30s...we'll be shy of that and I do think we will have some occasional snow showers too! 

Next week in Illinois is Severe Weather Preparedness week.  Here is a link to our National Weather Service in Chicago.  You can click on that to learn more about severe weather!

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tracy

HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN....

Greetings on this Wednesday.  It was exactly two weeks ago when we had some heavy rain in Chicago! .83" to be exact.  Tomorrow may bring us another good soaking!  Today we'll slide by with just a lot of cloud cover and possibly a few light rain showers around lunchtime....

By lunchtime tomorrow, it will be more than a few showers.  I think rain begins late tomorrow morning and increases in intensity during the afternoon.  It will be a miserable afternoon/evening commute tomorrow but at least the tranisition to snow should begin after that rush hour ends.  SNOW...DID SHE SAY SNOW?  Yes, Thursday night into early Friday morning, we'll wrap up this event with some light snow as colder air makes a comeback for the weekend. 

Tracy

The End is Near....of winter that is

I have never had so many people asking so early in the year when is this wintry weather going to end. My quick remark is June but to a lot of us, me included, this winter has been extremely long and harsh. Even though we don't see a massive warm up coming right away we should see temps. warm by the middle of this upcoming week.

  So how do I try to give this a positive spin??? Well, I look at the average high temperatures. A month agao ago our average high was only 29 now it is up to 37 and in just two months our average high is a delightful 60°! Now that is something to look forward to.

Phil

SNOWY SATURDAY

Greetings on this Friday...well, unlike the huge difference between last Thursday and Friday's models in the prediction for Valentine's Day Saturday, this week's Thursday and Friday models are in sync for this Saturday's roundup!  All of the models suggest, snow beginning late this evening.  What DO I mean by that?  Snow will begin in the far west and northwest suburbs after 8-9pm and then spread into the city after 10pm.    It appears the heaviest snow will fall between 2am and 8am and by 8am I believe 2-5" will have accumulated.  But...I'm not done.  Snow will persist into the early afternoon and it's quite possible we could see an additional 1-3" in that time frame.  Most of us will end up with 4-6" totals, however an isolated swath of 6-8" is going to be possible somewhere in the ABC7 viewing area.  Anywhere north of I-88 is up for grabs with those higher amounts!   Have a good weekend...enjoy the "fruits of winter."   

Tracy

GOOD MORNING TO ALL...

As I write this, it is 13 degrees at Midway airport with a wind chill of -5 and I'm watching the lake-effect snow bands penetrate Southwest Michigan and North Central Indiana.  Winter is not over, as if you had any doubt.   Exactly one week ago, the models were hinting at a significant snow storm for us on Valentine's Day.  By Friday morning we had to significantly change that forecast as we witnessed that only an inch or two would materialize, according to "fresh data." 

Here we are...another Thursday morning and the models are suggesting that amounts between 3-6" will be quite common on Saturday.  Watch this page and watch ABC7 News to see if I change that tune in my forecasts tomorrow morning. 

SORRY SNOW LOVERS....

Some of you were all geared up for a good little Valentine's Day snow storm...I'm sorry...it's my fault, I got your hopes up yesterday....But, now it appears that storm is going to wimp out on us and simply brush us with an inch or two of snow.  The weekend will be seasonably cool and by Chicago standards and by this winter's standards...QUIET.  Have a nice weekend and I'll talk to you next week.

Tracy

CHICAGO SNOW DAYS!

Okay snow lovers...this one is for you!  As promised on ABC7 News This Morning today, I told you I would blog immediately after looking at some of the latest data.  Most of the models are still coming in with snow beginning overnight Friday night into Saturday.  So, it doesn't look like we have any worries for our morning and evening commutes on Friday...however, if you're rushing out somewhere Saturday morning, that snow may slow you down a little.  Right now it appears most of us will see anywhere from 2-4" of snow, with a few isolated totals around 5" possible....Stay tuned...I'll have further updates thru the day on Friday!

Tracy

OH SPRING...WE HARDLY KNEW YA!

WHILE TEMPERATURES REACHED LATE APRIL LEVELS YESTERDAY, THE RAIN IS HERE TO WASH IT ALL AWAY. TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL STILL BE QUITE MILD, BUT ONE THING THAT WILL NOT BE MILD TODAY...THE WIND!  AS THE LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS JUST SOUTH OF US, THE WINDS WILL REALLY PICK UP THIS AFTERNOON.  QUITE POSSIBLY WIND GUSTS WILL APPROACH 40 MPH.  THE OTHER STORY FOR US TODAY, THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN EXISTS.  IF YOUR "NEIGHBOR" HAPPENS TO BE A RIVER, CREEK OR STREAM, RAPID RISES ALONG THESE WATERWAYS CAN BE EXPECTED.  THE RAPIDLY MELTING SNOW LAST WEEKEND COUPLED WITH THE POTENTIAL OF AS MUCH AS 2" OF RAIN, COULD MAKE FOR SOME HIGH WATER.  ADD TO ALL THIS GOOD NEWS, LOOKS LIKE VALENTINE'S DAY COULD BRING SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW...JUST A REMINDER THAT IT REALLY IS STILL WINTER!

TRACY

Don't Look Now, But...

So our brush with near-record warmth is in the books, a soaking rain is on the way for Wednesday, so why am I suddenly worried about snow? Well, the new computer runs are coming in and presenting an alarming solution for the Friday night and Saturday period... ergo, Valentine's Day. Can anybody say February 14th, 1990? It's too early to start thinking about abandoning cars on Lake Shore Drive again, but what looked like a whimsical refresher on winter heading into the weekend may become a much larger headache. A storm system now crashing into the Pacific Northwest is going to move into the Plains later this week, and forecasters from Nebraska, through Kansas and east into Missouri and Iowa are already on alert for 6+" accumulations. Where that swath moves next will determine whether the Chicago area gets plastered with 6-10" of holiday snow, or points farther downstate end up being buried in Cupid's frozen wrath.

Mike

Record High Could Fall!

It's one of our oldest temperature records... 63 degrees on February 10, 1876... and it may be erased tomorrow.

Unseasonable warmth driven in part by gusty south winds will pump the mercury into the 60s. Helping push the numbers even higher will be abundant sunshine, especially in the afternoon.  The warm blast won't last long, however.  On Wednesday, a storm system now bringing welcome rains to California will swing into the area with widespread rain and embedded thunderstorms.  Rainfall totals could be locally heavy, particularly in the far southern portions of Chicagoland, so flooding concerns will be closely monitored in this area. 

Behind that storm will be a shot of "colder" air which could briefly change the rain into snow before ending Thursday morning.  But this brand of cold is merely a return to more typical mid-February temps... highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s. 

Mike caplan