It’s been a long week for area sunshine enthusiasts. Chicagoans have been subjected to four cloudy days, 2-4” of rain and the metro area’s first tornado touchdown of the season—albeit a small one—in the Plainfield/Bolingbrook area around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. April’s logged just 42% of its possible sun. That’s a tally which is 11% below normal, enough to make it the cloudiest April since 1995. With all the clouds, it’s little wonder 63% of days this month have been cooler than normal. Daytime highs so far this month have averaged 10 degrees below the same period a year ago.
The sun returns Saturday, but a southeast-bound upper air disturbance and daytime heating could tap the 0.75” of evaporated moisture in the atmosphere to ignite spotty afternoon thunderstorms.
Temperatures stage a 20-degree rebound this afternoon into the lower 70s. What’s more, the low 80s predicted Sunday are likely to make this the second consecutive weekend to post 80°-plus highs.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
