After reveling in the first truly warm days of the year Friday and Saturday, a strong cold
front sent temperatures crashing across the area Saturday afternoon. At Highland Park
the mercury plunged 28 degrees from 70 to 42 in just 14 minutes shortly after 1 p.m.
and by 5 p.m. the temperature there hovered at 37 degrees while the Kankakee area still
basked in the lower 80s. The large temperature disparity generated waves of showers
and thunderstorms across the region that produced heavy downpours and hail.
Sunday morning will open rainy, damp and chilly, with brisk southeast winds holding
temperatures in the lower and middle 40s. But the early season warmth is expected to
surge back into the area Sunday afternoon with the mercury rapidly rebounding to the
lower 80s, as gusty southerly winds initiate the temperature comeback. Scattered
showers and thunderstorms will develop in the increasingly humid air mass, but a more
general thunderstorm outbreak is slated for Monday as an approaching cold front
threatens to trigger thunderstorm clusters capable of producing repeat heavy rain
episodes.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Skies skies are expected to partially clear by Tuesday, and the remainder of the week
should feature seasonable temperatures and generally dry conditions except for some
rain late Thursday into Friday.
