Early this week, cool dry Canadian high pressure will slowly recede to the east, taking its unseasonably low 50° dew points (temperatures to which the air must be cooled to condense, and a good guide to overnight low temps under clear skies) with it. By Monday, under the influence of this high, much of the eastern half of the country will be rain-free. However, rains will continue along the Gulf Coast and southern Texas where downpours of over 10 inches Friday into early Saturday triggered extensive flooding of rivers, streams and highways and numerous flood warnings by the Austin-San Antonio National Weather Service Forecast Office. Southerly flow will gradually draw this moisture north up the Mississippi Valley into Illinois and Wisconsin. By week’s end, a broad area of showers and thunderstorms will exist from the northern Plains east into the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
--By Paul Dailey, 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.
