Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Chicago, IL

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522 FXUS63 KLOT 081152 AFDLOT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL 652 AM CDT Sat Jun 8 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered showers with a few rumbles of thunder today. - Northeast wind shift with a cold front this afternoon, bringing cooler temps and a short period of choppy 2-4 foot waves to Lake Michigan beaches. - Northwest winds gusting to 30 mph Sunday. - A shift toward warmer temperatures and higher humidity remains on track for the third week of June && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 230 AM CDT Sat Jun 8 2024 Through Sunday: Scattered showers are expected later this morning and into the afternoon and there has been an overall trend upward in coverage with the 00z guidance. Given current precip coverage with this wave across MN, this upward shift looks reasonable and have raised pops to likely for areas along and north of I-80. Still some timing uncertainty which may need later refinement. There will likely still be some dry hours, but after mid/late morning, difficult to pin down when those would be. Areas south of I-80 may stay mainly dry this morning and then as the activity across the northern cwa shifts southeast, best precip chances will be in the late afternoon and early evening. Instability remains quite limited with perhaps the best chance for thunder southeast of I-57 later this afternoon into this evening but maintained slight chance (15-20%) for thunder areawide this afternoon. This expected precipitation and mainly cloudy skies will likely keep high temps only in the lower to mid 70s and once the showers begin, temps may drop back into the upper 60s. A cold front will be moving south down Lake Michigan today and all of the guidance has sped up the arrival of this front, likely moving through northeast IL during the mid afternoon hours and then into northwest IN by late afternoon. Winds will shift to the northeast and depending on where temps are at, they will likely fall further into the lower/mid 60s behind the front. While it may be brief, an increase in winds over southern Lake Michigan will likely lead to a period of increased waves of 2-4 feet and a moderate risk for rip currents. Lows tonight are expected to dip into the mid 50s for most of the area with clouds slowly clearing. Mostly sunny to start Sunday with increasing clouds later in the afternoon. Winds will steadily increase during the morning with gusts into the 30 mph range during the afternoon, especially north of I-80. cms Sunday Night through Friday: Pleasant conditions are forecast through the first half of the upcoming week. An expansive surface high will remain to our northwest at the start of the workweek resulting in northerly surface flow across the area. This will result in notably cooler temperatures on Monday with highs only in the 60s to lower 70s. Overnight lows Monday night could even dip into the 40s outside of Chicago. Long range guidance is beginning to come into a bit better agreement with the handling of the upper level pattern though there remain timing differences. The general trend is toward drier conditions through midweek due to dry low levels amidst an expansive area of surface high pressure limiting precip potential as weak disturbances move within the upper jet. It is possible portions of northern Illinois are grazed by showers moving across Wisconsin toward midweek. Temperatures very gradually through midweek with highs back into the 80s by Wednesday and near 90 on Thursday. A frontal passage Thursday night into Friday could bring our next chance of showers and storms (currently at 20%). There continues to be a longer range signal for above normal temperatures and higher humidity across the region for the third full week of June as upper level ridging builds across the eastern half of the CONUS. Petr && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/...
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Issued at 652 AM CDT Sat Jun 8 2024 Key Messages: - Scattered SHRA expected late morning through early evening with associated MVFR CIGS/VSBYS - Low TS potential (15%) this afternoon - Gusty northeast wind shift with cold front in the afternoon A pair of disturbances moving across the region are still on track to bring periods of showers to the area today. Exact onset timing of prevailing showers is a bit lower confidence but generally expect late AM toward RFD and early afternoon for the Chicago area terminals. Ceilings will gradually trend down to MVFR during the afternoon as shower coverage increases along with periods of visibility reductions to MVFR in the steadiest showers. IFR cigs/vsbys are not out of the question though confidence remains too low to include with this update. While no TS is officially included in the TAFs a few embedded thunderstorms cannot be fully ruled out at the terminals. A short-fused addition of TSRA or VCTS may become warranted based on upstream trends. Prevailing SSE to SSW winds are expected this morning. Winds are expected to turn NNE behind a cold front this afternoon. Winds then gradually ease and settle back into a NW to W direction after sunset then pick up again by mid-late morning on Sunday with gusts in the lower 20kt range. Petr
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&& .LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. IN...None. LM...None. && $$ Visit us at weather.gov/chicago