The Chicago National Weather Service has designated March 5-11 as Severe Weather Awareness Week in Illinois and Indiana, and the atmosphere seems to be taking a cue from that designation. A consensus of computer models suggests the next 7-12 days will be a meteorologically active period here and across the nation’s midsection as the pattern shifts to warmer, wetter and stormy weather.
A huge U-shaped buckle in jet stream winds is developing over the western U.S., and the core of strong southerly jet winds is forecast to shift over the Midwest by midweek, accompanied by an increasing likelihood of strong thunderstorms and, in the lower levels, by mild moist air.
As often happens in the early spring, the boundary between mild air and chilly, lake-cooled air might lie across northeast Illinois later this week, setting the stage for huge temperature ranges across the city: low 40s far north, near 70º far south.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
