Chicago weather: Warm start fades to cooler, cloudy stretch

CHICAGO - Today's high peaked around 3 a.m., at 77 degrees at O’Hare. This makes it easily one of the warmest nights ever in April. This will not be a record, however, because it will get cooler before the end of this calendar day. For reference, the record warmest daily low temperature in April is 69°. 

A whopping two tornadoes have been reported nationwide since yesterday so far (none of them in the Chicago area). This is according to the Storm Prediction Center, by the way. That number might change slightly, but the point is that a major severe weather outbreak with tornadoes did not occur. There were numerous reports of large hail and some wind damage in states to our west and northwest. 

Chicago weather forecast

What's next:

The rest of this day will feature gusty winds as a cold front moves through later this morning. That will start a slow temperature fall. It will still be mild, however, with temperatures this afternoon not far from 70 degrees. There is a small chance of a shower near the front. Skies will be mostly cloudy. Tonight will be partly to mostly cloudy with lows around 50. 

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with spotty showers in the afternoon.  The showery pattern will continue Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday with obviously some gaps in between the rain. 

Highs on Wednesday will be close to 60 degrees, on Thursday in the upper 60s and on Friday in the lower 60s. 

After a showery few days, the weekend looks terrific with plenty of sunshine. Highs will be in the low 60s on Saturday and low 70s on Sunday.