Chicago weather: Afternoon showers and temps in the 60s

CHICAGO - First off, there was no display of northern lights in the Chicago area because the geomagnetic storm subsided long before it got dark here. 

Chicago weather forecast

What we know:

Today will be milder but the arrival of showers during the early afternoon will put a lid on how much warmer it will get. Most areas will top out in the low to mid 60s with a gusty wind. 

Overnight there is a chance for a cluster of thunderstorms to move across southern Wisconsin and those could clip extreme northern Illinois during the wee hours of the morning. Some small hail would be possible from those storms. 

Future forecast

What's next:

The focus tomorrow shifts to how warm it is going to be and when we get any thunderstorms. I have no doubt that it will be the warmest day of the year so far with highs getting into the low, maybe mid 80s. 

Skies will be partly sunny and it will be rather windy, pushing the warmth all the way to the lakefront. Thunderstorms appear likely to fire up in our area sometime at night when there is a small risk that some could have damaging winds and or hail. The storms should move out of the area by daybreak Saturday. 

It will be a cooler day Saturday with the warmest part of the day likely occurring shortly after midnight. Most of Saturday will be in the mid 50s with mostly cloudy skies. 

On Easter, the next storm system will be winding up to our southwest. The first part of the day should be dry, but showers will move in during the afternoon and I still think there’s a good chance of a line of thunderstorms moving through at night. Highs on Easter will be in the 50s.