Two small tornadoes touched down amid the rain and wind Monday morning—one 31 miles west of the city two miles ESE of Warrenville, IL and a second 38 miles southwes tof Chicago and 4 miles NW of Shorewood near Kendall Ridge Blvd and Townsend Boulevard. They’ll be investigated—but reports we’ve received indicate some branches down and a bent fence and little more. Several other tornado touchdowns occurred Monday morning in the Champaign area downstate.

The bigger story was a second heavy rain in less than a week with 1.01″ reported at O’Hare and 0.93″ at Midway.  Some flooding occurred. And non-tstorm winds gusts to 45 mph at Midway and 35 mph at O’Hare.

Also, Monday’s 57-deg high temp came on not only 17-deg above normal but also qualifies as the 5^th warmest Feb 27 on the books here and the warmest Feb 27 in 5 years—since 2018.

Chicago recorded its lowest February barometric pressure reading in 15 years—with the pressure dropping to 29.09″ this morning—a testament to the strength of the winter storm which swept the area. It’s lowest pressure to the west of Chicago was 29.00″ near the Illinois/Iowa border. Chicago’s lowest February pressure reading was 28.73″ set in 1902.

Clouds linger but most precip is over with the current storm. It does appear a good deal of cloudiness hangs in tonight and Election Day—but temps are to remain mild and in the mid to upper 40s—temp levels 6-deg above normal.

Several rain showers return to the scene Tuesday night and temps soar to the 50s again Wednesday.

Colder temps later in the week occur as another potentially power winter storm takes aim on the area.  It’s impact could include snow, strong winds and, in parts of the metro area—especially south as it looks now—a possibly wintry mix.  This system has been a focus since last week and refinement of its potential effects on the area will be forthcoming in the days ahead.

A colder weather regime takes hold next week with temps to average 5-deg above normal for this week as a whole—but a degree below normal next week.

MONDAY NIGHT: Mainly cloudy and windy. Chance of sprinkles. Low 34.

TUESDAY (Election Day)–A good deal of cloudiness but with temps ABOVE NORMAL for this time of year and NO daytime precip expected. High 47.

TUESDAY NIGHT: Cloudy, some patchy rain developing. Mild for the season. Low 35.

WEDNESDAY: Becoming partly sunny and mild—except for some cooler lake breezes along Lake Michigan. High 52—but upper 30s to low 40s lakeshore.

THURSDAY: Cloudy, windy and colder from the northeast. Gusts 25 to 30 mph likely. High 35.

THURSDAY NIGHT & FRIDAY: Windy with a good chance of snow developing. A wintry mix possible southern sections—but accumulation may occur over portions of the Chicago area and this system should be monitored.  Wind gusts topping 40 mph appear possible.High 34.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Partly cloudy to cloudy. High Saturday 41. Sunday’s high 42.

MONDAY: Cloudy, windy and milder. Chance of rain. High 50.