Although rainfall may be very spotty as Saturday gets under way, Chicago’s weather is predicted to deteriorate quickly this afternoon. Rain coverage increases from a few errant morning sprinkles and light showers over less than 20 percent of the area to heavier, wider-coverage rainfall likely to deliver a half an inch or more of rain in many locations before Sunday morning. If true, the storm would rank as fall 2005’s third heaviest rain-producer here to date. The rain comes in the wake of a second consecutive 70° high in November. Though cool air is to flirt with the metro area a day or two at a time over the coming week, the overall pattern is to remain mild over much of the Lower 48 east of the Rockies. Another 70° is possible as early as Tuesday. A high-altitude blocking pattern over eastern Russia—4,600 miles west of Chicago—is projected to hold into mid-November, locking this country’s mild westerly jet stream winds in place.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
