Rainfall beginning late Wednesday had accumulated to about one inch across metropolitan Chicago as of 8 p.m. Thursday, with rain continuing, but far heavier amounts were falling downstate and across Indiana. Four inches of rain swamped Carbondale in southern Illinois, with rain continuing there as well.
Through 8 p.m. Thursday, total March 1-9 precipitation as measured at O’Hare (Chicago’s official weather reporting site) was 1.31”. That is nearly as much (1.48”) as fell in all of March one year ago, when the city was just entering into an intense drought whose lingering effects the current rain is only now helping to alleviate.
Computer models indicate a continuation—even an intensification—of the wet pattern. Two additional storm systems, each potential copious rain producers, have Chicago in their sights: one centered on Saturday and another starting late Sunday.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
