Rainfall has been in very short supply over much of the Midwest. Friday’s 0.03” here in Chicago was the city’s first measurable precipitation in 14 days. And, though widely scattered thunderstorms pelted sections of Wisconsin with hail Friday afternoon and evening, the rains which fell were selective.
The dry conditions over central Wisconsin are believed to have played a role in an early season wildfire Thursday and Friday. The blaze charred a five-square-mile area—approximately 3,870 acres—near Cottonville in Adams County. Firefighters fought the blaze, first reported at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, on the ground and from the air, extinguishing it the early hours of Friday morning.
The blaze signals the region’s current need for general, wide-coverage rainfall before the onset of the summer precipitation period, characterized by scattered thunderstorms that distribute their rains unevenly.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
