Stateline heading into cooler, but tranquil pattern in the week ahead
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – While we enjoyed a stretch of summer-like weather last week, we urged caution before declaring winter over entirely. The facts are clear. It gets cold well into April, and it’s been known to snow even in the late stages of the month. Snow’s not in the cards for us, at least this week, but much cooler temperatures most certainly are.
While the recently completed weekend was quite the dreary one, it’s no secret the soaking rains were beneficial! Before the weekend, our area was still sporting a healthy rainfall deficit, both since March 1 and for the year as a whole. With this weekend’s rain now accounted for, we’ve turned our monthly deficit into a surplus, and have significantly narrowed the shortfall since March 1 and for 2021 as a whole.
Quieter times are ahead of us to start our workweek, though we won’t lose cloudiness immediately. Expect a mostly cloudy sky for the majority of the region as we head off to work or school Monday morning, though we promise the sun won’t be too far off.
In fact, we should start to see mixed sunshine by mid to late morning, and come lunchtime our skies will almost certainly look exponentially brighter! One could even make an argument for taking your lunch break outside, as temperatures will be within striking range of 60°, though there will be a bit of a breeze around.
In all likelihood, a mostly sunny sky is to take us through the afternoon hours, assuring most of us a high temperature in the lower to middle 60s.
A weak cold front is to drop through the area overnight into early Tuesday, bringing with it additional cloudiness and, more importantly, a cooler brand of air to our region. Though mixed sunshine is probable Tuesday, temperatures are to top out only in the middle 50s.
Tuesday’s cooler temperatures are just the appetizer. The main course arrives Tuesday night into Wednesday. Clearing skies and lighter winds Tuesday night will send our temperatures into the middle 30s, with some outlying locales dipping to near or even slightly below freezing. Frost development looks likely in many, if not most spots. Mostly cloudy skies Wednesday will restrict temperatures to the lower 50s.
Wednesday’s certain to be the coldest day of the week. The chill eases a bit by the end of the week and toward the weekend, but temperatures will still remain below normal. In fact, all signs point to a high likelihood of temperatures remaining below normal for the next ten days, if not even longer.
While cool, the pattern isn’t to be be barbarically cold by any stretch of the imagination. Additionally, the pattern looks to be quite benign, with virtually no precipitation in the forecast through the workweek, and just one chance for rainfall in the next ten days. That chance, a small one, comes Saturday. Expect our rainfall deficits to begin stretching again over the coming two weeks.
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