The easterly winds—which, by late Sunday, will have blown for five full days—have acted as an atmospheric buffer against recent downstate downpours. Even as the northbound moist air fueled rains in its trek across the southern Midwest, the precipitation has largely evaporated here thanks to dry low-level air which has arrived with the brisk easterly flow.
Thunderstorms downstate Friday led to three brief tornado touchdowns in the St. Louis area. Other storms unleashed impressive rains across southern Illinois and Indiana as well as Kentucky and Missouri. Heavier amounts Friday included 1.56” Louisville, 1.45” St. Louis, 1.01” Effingham, and 0.81” Evansville. Another 0.75” doused Poplar Bluff, Mo., where 2” had fallen on Thursday.
Saturday’s overcast and brief rains promise, in combination with east winds off the lake, to limit shoreline warming. But drying by Sunday allows unlimited sunshine to return, which should boost readings back to the 70s.
--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.
