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Chicago weather: Dry and sunny now, but rain chances return Thursday
JD Rudd has your weather update!
CHICAGO - Another day that covered the area in sunshine, which was needed to help dry up the recent rain. It got a little warmer as well with most of us hitting highs in the middle 80s. Get ready for things to heat up a touch more over the next couple of days.
For tonight, we'll keep it mild and fairly comfortable. It may be a bit sticky in some spots, but overnight lows will fall into the mid and upper 60s. Not a lot of wind expected as speeds drop to under 5 mph.
Looking ahead:
Wall-to-wall sunshine again on Wednesday. But this time we get a southwest wind and that will help to push some warmer (and muggier) air into the region. It may also give us a few more fair weather cumulus clouds. Look for highs Wednesday to be near 90 in most cases, heat index values may reach the middle 90s by the afternoon. While the daytime will be dry here, our team will be monitoring activity in Wisconsin. A few spotty showers and rumbles could drift into northern Illinois after 11 pm Wednesday.
This leads us into Thursday, where scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected. They may not hit every backyard, but this is our best chance to see rain. There could be two rounds to deal with, the first coming through in the early morning. If that can clear out fast enough, we could see more storms by the afternoon and evening. There is a small risk of severe weather, with the biggest concern being straight-line wind gusts. Outside of that, it will remain warm and muggy with highs in the mid to upper 80s.
Newest data suggests that Friday may end up more on the drier side than previously thought. Still, there is a chance for a few showers in the forecast. The wind direction will flip to the northeast and this may help hold highs in the lower 80s, plus knock back the humidity a tad.
For those making weekend plans, it's going to be a whole lot better than what we had for July 4th. Look for sunshine and highs in the mid to upper 80s. It will be a little muggy as well. Moving into next week, expect highs to hang around 90 degrees Monday and Tuesday with ample sunshine. Dew points will linger around 70 degrees, which means the humidity will be a factor for those spending time outside.