Chicago weather: Mostly dry first half of August, heat to build this weekend
CHICAGO - Think it’s been a wet month in Chicagoland? Not based on these numbers.
Here’s the percentage of normal rainfall for the first two weeks of August at eight official reporting sites for the weather service.
- O’Hare, 27%
- Aurora, 18%
- West Chicago, 16%
- Waukegan, 34%
- Valparaiso, 10%
- Midway, 20%
- Wheeling, 58%
- Romeoville, 28%
Of course, there are many locations that have had drenching, even flooding rainfall recently. But this data supports the overarching pattern of "incomplete" rains. Such may be the case again in coming days.
This morning, one such wave of showers and thunderstorms is missing us to the north. However, some cloud cover is bleeding into Chicagoland as of this writing. Those clouds should depart revealing a mostly sunny afternoon. That should allow highs to reach 90° plus.
Tonight, the next in a series of waves that will be flirting with us approaches from the northwest. While there is a chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight into Saturday morning, right now it appears there is at least an equal chance that those showers and storms will fall apart as they move into our northern suburbs.
The rest of tomorrow will be a burner with highs in the low to mid 90s. The less-hot readings will likely be north and especially near the lake due to outflow from the thunderstorm complex, which will have fallen apart in the morning.
Sunday will be another hot day with the possibility of showers and thunderstorms early in the morning. Similarly, there is a chance that any activity will fall apart before arriving in our viewing area. Highs on Sunday should make it into the low 90s.
Monday will likely be the fourth day in a row of 90+ with a chance of showers and thunderstorms at night. Tuesday has a decent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms with highs in the mid 80s.
Cooling next week, in my opinion, looks marginal, but it won’t be anywhere near as hot as it will be this weekend.