It was very fall-like across the Chicago area Sunday, damp, dark and dreary with intermittent rainfall that brought anywhere from a quarter to half an inch of rain to much of the area. But it was a different story downstate as temperatures surged into the middle and upper 80s under bright September sunshine. The large contrast in temperatures is helping fuel more rounds of showers and thunderstorms for Monday and Monday night that threaten to bring some very substantial rainfall totals to the Chicago area. The same system brought torrents of rain to northeast Iowa Sunday with nearly 1.5 inches at Dubuque and up to 3.5 inches just to the west along U.S. Highway 20. Similar totals could soak the Chicago area Monday.
Sunshine should finally return to this area by Wednesday as the weather pattern quickly reverts to a summer-like pattern. Highs should rebound into the 70s by midweek and grace the 80s by next weekend.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
