The weather's turned beautiful in recent days and still water is on display everywhere in
the Midwest. Forecasts suggest the Fox River, which began falling Tuesday in
Wisconsin, is to crest later this week and only slowly retreat this weekend and early
next week. Water levels on parts of the flooding Rock River are at their second highest
levels on record.
Even Lake Michigan is responding to the copious rains of recent weeks. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers reports water levels are 3 inches higher than a year ago. That
doesn't sound like much. But, each inch the Lake Michigan rises represents an increase
of 390-billion gallons of water. Precipitation across the 45,000 square mile drainage
basin of Lake Michigan has averaged 181% normal since June began and the lake's
volume has risen 1.17-trillions gallons over the past year.
BLISTERING HEAT BLAZES ACROSS THE SOUTH
The hottest weather this season is baking the Southwest. Phoenix topped out at
113-degrees -- one degree shy of the record Tuesday while Tucson hit 109-degrees.
The warmth threatens to expand east next week and could signal a warm-up here
Wednesday and beyond.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
