Chicago's warmest weather to date in 2009—and the area's warmest weekend in more
than six months--is on the way. The warming cycle, likely to extend through the
weekend, began with Wednesday’s 61-degree high and builds Thursday with the
predicted 74-degree high. Southeast winds will slice ashore off Lake Michigan limiting
shoreline readings to the low and mid-60s. Lake cooling will be extinguished Friday
and Saturday by powerhouse south/southwest winds gusting at times to 40 m.p.h. and
being driven by falling pressures as a significant large-scale spring storm develops
over the nation's midsection this weekend and early next week.
Chicago's meteorological wild card this weekend revolves around the potential for
thunderstorms—principally Saturday evening and in areas north toward the Wisconsin
line. The outflow from these storms may provoke several additional thunderstorms as
far south as the Chicago area Saturday night and early Sunday. A more substantial rain
risk arrives with thunderstorm clusters later Sunday night and Monday. This period
could include the area’s first organized severe weather outbreak of 2009. A suite of
computer projections hints a corridor from Texas and Oklahoma northeastward into
northern Illinois and Wisconsin may be in for 1 to 4 inches of rain the next 5
days--heaviest just west of the Chicago area.
More than half of years have seen an 80-degree reading by now
April 20 has been the average date of Chicago's first 80 degree or higher temperature
the past 11 years--and weather records at Midway Airport reveal more than half of the
past 81 years there (since 1928) have hosted an 80 by this date.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
