Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Chicago, IL

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355 FXUS63 KLOT 102336 AFDLOT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL 636 PM CDT Mon Jun 10 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dangerous swimming conditions will continue at Lake Michigan beaches through this evening. - Slight chance for thunderstorms Tuesday evening and early Tuesday night, mainly north of I-80. - Scattered thunderstorms possible Thursday, some of which may be severe in the afternoon and evening. - Building heat appearing probable early next week. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 307 PM CDT Mon Jun 10 2024 Through Tuesday Night: Sunny and breezy conditions persist this afternoon with relatively cool temperatures in the mid 60s to around 70. High pressure is spreading in from the west which will keep skies clear tonight and allow winds to diminish with sunset which will also allow waves to subside and dangerous beach conditions to improve. Expect calm to light and variable winds overnight which will support decent radiational cooling. Have nudged overnight lows down just a bit with values in the low to mid 40s for most areas outside the Chicago metro and upper 40s to low 50s in the suburbs and near the lake. Would not be surprised if a few of the typically colder spots in the Fox Valley cool to a few degrees lower than forecast. A weak upper ridge axis will crest the area tomorrow while the surface high shifts east. Winds will turn southwesterly but be on the light side. Warm advection and a mostly sunny start will bring high temps into the upper 70s, though a lake breeze will keep temps in the mid/upper 60s along the lake. A mid/upper shortwave trough will reach the area late tomorrow afternoon and pass overhead through the evening. There will be a modest influx of moisture but forcing will be on the weak side, given the parent surface and upper low will be well to the north across northern Ontario. Not surprisingly, ensemble guidance is mixed on whether we see much in the way of precipitation activity. There is enough support to continue with the 20-30% chances, mainly for areas north of I-88, with a lower chance to the south toward I-80, from the previous shift. There is enough of a signal for instability to include a slight chance for thunderstorms as well. Overall, coverage looks isolated to scattered at best. Otherwise a much milder night will be in store, with lows in the low to mid 60s. MDB Wednesday through Monday: On Wednesday, strengthening warm air advection, lingering relatively low dew point temps, and plenty of sunshine will result in the warmest temperatures for the area as a whole since May 21st. 850 mb and 925 mb temps are progged to rise into the upper teens Celsius and low-mid 20s C, respectively, which supports highs generally in the 85-90F range. The lakeshore should also get in on the warmth unless low-level winds are a bit weaker than expected and enable a lake breeze to push just inland. For Wednesday night into early Thursday, the main question mark is the extent of upstream convection able to overcome antecedent capping and push southeastward into portions of the area. Given the expected more hostile conditions for convective maintenance and unfavorable overnight timing, only low (~20-30%) PoPs for the northwest 1/3 or so of the CWA appear appropriate. Chance (25-30%) PoPs are confined to our far northwest CWA. Aside from the lower end chance for a few showers/storms to survive into the CWA, it will be a much warmer night than the past few, with lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Thursday remains the "day to watch" for severe weather potential in the CWA during the afternoon and evening in favorably strong northwest mid-upper level flow pattern. There are, however, key points of uncertainty that make it a conditional scenario. A cold front is forecast to be draped to our northwest in the early morning, from northern Iowa to the UP of Michigan. Upstream overnight convection, even if it mostly falls apart prior to reaching into the CWA, may have outflow that forces the effective cold front position a bit farther south to start the day. Even without the above occurrence, moisture depth may be quite shallow with northward extent, and a combination of veering winds and mixing out of dew points as the cold front approaches in the afternoon may force the PM convective initiation (CI) farther southward. High temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s and dew points in the mid to upper 60s would yield 2k+ J/kg of MLCAPE, with little MLCINh. Where boundary layer convergence and modest large scale ascent are sufficient for CI, scattered thunderstorms amidst ~40-50 kt of effective northwesterly deep layer bulk shear have the potential to become severe with a damaging wind and hail threat. Our PoPs peak in the 40-50% range, which generally implies scattered type coverage, though again note that location of afternoon development is uncertain enough to lower confidence in how things will play out. The SPC day 4 15% probs appear reasonable from a pattern recognition perspective, though we can`t discount a scenario in which portions of the area see little to no thunderstorms (ie. recent ECMWF runs favor southern CWA and points south). The cold front will clear the area well to our south to bring a quiet, dry (including low humidity), and slightly cooler stretch Friday-Saturday (coolest near the lake due to onshore flow). Strong 500 mb ridging nosing northward over the weekend will quickly bring a return to summer heat by Sunday (low-mid 90s highs forecast). Dew points will likely remain low enough to keep heat indices in check, though. While any PoPs are low in the Sunday-Monday period, the zone of active convection typical to the type of pattern progged may not be far to our northwest. Temps well into the 90s are possible on Monday *if* convection doesn`t end up having more of an effect. Castro && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/...
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Issued at 635 PM CDT Mon Jun 10 2024 Current satellite imagery shows clear skies across the area resulting in VFR conditions at all five TAF sites. The lake breeze has pushed through KORD, KMDW, and KDPA bringing northeasterly winds to the terminals. Winds will dissipate after sunset tonight. Tomorrow, a lake breeze will develop. However, southwesterly winds should hold it in the vicinity of KGYY tomorrow afternoon. However, if winds are light enough, the lake breeze may be able to advance inland bringing a wind shift to KORD, KMDW, and KDPA. This looks unlikely, but is something that will need to be monitored. Through the afternoon tomorrow, midlevel moisture will build into the area bringing some lower VFR ceilings and potentially a shower or two. Model guidance shows a line of showers advancing to the east from Iowa tomorrow afternoon, however, they leave the best instability behind and will be weakening by the time they reach the area. Considered putting a PROB30 group in the TAFs, but confidence is low that showers will make it this far east. This will continue to be monitored over the coming hours. Sparing the possible brief shower, VFR conditions will persist through the end of TAF period for all five sites. Carothers
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&& .LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...Beach Hazards Statement until 1 AM CDT Tuesday for ILZ006- ILZ103-ILZ104. IN...Beach Hazards Statement until 1 AM CDT Tuesday for INZ001- INZ002. LM...Small Craft Advisory until 9 PM CDT this evening for the IL and IN nearshore waters. && $$ Visit us at weather.gov/chicago