Chicago lies in an area of severe storm potential later today as a warm front approaches from the southwest. This front is expected to orient in a position extending from northern Iowa into northwest Indiana and become quasi-stationary for the next few days, slowly vacillating back and forth from positions just south of Chicago to north along the Illinois-Wisconsin border. With cool northwest flow aloft and converging warm, moist low-level flow along the warm front, unstable meteorological conditions will persist over northeast Illinois into Thursday. With radiational cooling on top of cloud layers, nighttime periods could be especially conducive to heavy rain and flood-producing conditions as slow-moving thunderstorms could develop and “train” (one storm after another tracking over the same area).
Forecasts have backed off a warm-up next weekend with latest guidance indicating increased influence of cooler Canadian high pressure.
--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.
