A sunny spring day prevailed across northeast Illinois yesterday while 60 mile per hour winds and heavy snow closed Interstate 94 in eastern Montana. At the same time several inches of heavy wet snow fell over western portions of the Dakotas as a strengthening low pressure system slowly drifted east. East winds traversed only a third the distance over the still cold (temperatures mostly in the 40s) Lake Michigan Tuesday than northeast winds did Monday (60 miles vs. 150 miles). Both days were sunny, but the shorter trek over the cold lake translated into significantly warmer temperatures across the metro area, especially inland. O’Hare for example recorded a 56° high Monday, then came in with a 10° warmer 66° high yesterday. Heat resulted in another day of record-breaking highs, but also contributed to another round of violent large hail-producing thunderstorms from Texas to Missouri and downstate Illinois.
-Paul Dailey WGNTV Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
