A westerly jet stream will spread a mild Pacific air mass across the nation this week, replacing the arctic air that brought an early season cold snap to Chicago. Last week’s sub-40º high and snow flurries will be quickly replaced by highs in the middle 60s as soon as Election Day, and September-level maximums bringing near-record warmth flirting with the 70º mark look like a good bet for the rest of the week. Beyond that, an inevitable new surge of arctic air will try to make inroads into the central United States by next weekend.
That next cold surge could set the stage for the development of would could turn out to be a classic November storm, the type that brings the “Gales of November” to the Great Lakes, snow to the Upper Midwest and thunder and possible severe weather to the South. Some infamous storms during this time of year include the Nov. 11, 1940, Armistice Day storm and the Nov. 9-10, 1975, storm that sent the Edmund Fitzgerald to the bottom of Lake Superior.
--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.
