Posted under weather

Posted under weather

Posted under weather

Posted under weather

Posted under weather

Posted under weather

We have put together a nice stretch of well above average temperatures, but that comes to an end as we look toward the end of the week. A cool front will pass overnight as the jetstream drifts to our east just far enough to allow cooler air into the area. High temperatures will already be down into the 70s tomorrow and will only take us into the mid 60s on Thursday and Friday. Don’t worry though, we will be back up in the 80s by Memorial Day. -Greg

Posted under weather

Severe thunderstorms and even a few tornadoes were observed across the Great Plains States on Saturday afternoon and evening.  That threat will shift a little further east on Sunday.  The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center  has issued a moderate risk for severe storms in places such as Kansas City and Joplin in Missouri as well as Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma.  These areas will deal with the threat for damaging wind, large hail, frequent lightning, torrential downpours, and possibly a tornado.

There is also a risk for severe weather further north into Minnesota and Iowa for the day Sunday.  By Sunday evening, that threat for a few stronger storms will exist here in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.  Hot and humid conditions are expected across the Stateline during the day with temperatures warming into the upper 80s.  Much of the first half of the day will be dry, with just a slight chance for a shower or two.  By late afternoon and early evening, a few thunderstorms will push into the area from the west.  Thunderstorms are not expected to develop in an organized pattern locally, so not all backyards will see the rain.  However, any strong storm we may see late Sunday will carry the primary threats of strong wind and large hail.  Thanks to the setting sun, solar heating (which helps to destabilize the atmosphere and ‘fuel’ thunderstorm development) will come to an end and the threat for stronger storms will decrease quickly after dark.  General showers and weakening thunderstorms will be scattered about the area overnight Sunday and fizzle out by dawn Monday.

Monday continues to have the best chance for severe thunderstorms.  Should we see enough breaks in the cloudcover leftover from Sunday night’s storms, our high temperatures may be similar to Sunday’s.  Otherwise, humid conditions and low 80s are in the forecast.  A vigorous center of low pressure will continue to slide east and shower and thunderstorm development is likely out ahead of it in our area Monday afternoon.  Some thunderstorms have the potential to take on supercell form, which includes the very slight chance for an isolated tornado.  The main concerns for Monday will be damaging straight line wind, large hail, frequent lightning and heavy rainfall.

Stay tuned to the Weather Blog and WREX.com, or you can follow the 13 Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter for all of the latest updates regarding the chance for severe weather in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.  -Joe

Posted under FutureTrack, rain, safety, severe weather, Threatrack, weather, Wind

Last night brought the country our biggest tornado outbreak of the year with a confirmed F4 that touched ground in Easter Texas near Granbury. This mile wide twister has claimed 6 lives, has left 7 people missing, has injured dozens more and has detroyed hundreds of homes. This outbreak isn’t uncommon, however after last year’s relatively tame severe weather season, it caught many people off guard. It is important to remember that May is peak season for tornadic activity, with the peak for thunderstorm activity coming in July. -Greg

Posted under Project: Tornado, severe weather, statistics, tornado, weather

This May has brought us a little bit of everything when it comes to both high and low temperatures with highs reaching into the 90s and lows bottoming out in the 30s. Despite these large temperature extremes, we have seen a very similar May to that of last year. Out of the 14 days this month, 7 have been warmer than last year and 7 have been cooler. The one thing we have going in our favor this year is an inch more of rainfall than we had through this date in May last year. -Greg

Posted under statistics, weather