Temperatures surge toward 70 degrees Tuesday amid howling south/southeast winds likely
to top 40 m.p.h. frequently-and all this as Chicago forecasters keep an eye on the
potential for active thunderstorms capable of producing their own powerful gusts. A scattering
of fast-moving northbound showers is embedded in Tuesday's southerly winds. With the
southerly flow stacked vertically, the stage is set for a pattern likely to transport
noticeably milder, more humid air into the area. The fear is of more numerous thunderstorms
embedded within the same powerful winds and potentially damaging thunderstorm wind gusts
later Tuesday and/or Tuesday night.
Just how warm it gets Tuesday will be affected by the extent of rainfall and cloud cover
as well as the predicted wind shift from an easterly to more southerly direction. East winds
can transport chilly lake air ashore, while a more southeast to south flow, like the one
predicted to take hold Tuesday, should allow noticeable warming away from the lake.
Storm hammers the Plains
At one point Monday, a tornado touched down at Brownlee, Neb., while blizzard conditions
were occurring only 110 miles to the west at Pine Ridge, S.D.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
