WGN weekly climate report:

• The first week of May in the books for Chicago and after a chilly start to the month—temps have jumped to well above normal in the last few days. Our first 80 of May happened Sunday, and with some mugginess we really haven’t seen so far this spring.
• Our latest pollen report shows high levels of tree pollen. Mold spores and grasses are low—but warm breezy days like today can lift the large grass pollen quite a bit and maybe even right into your sinuses. Grass pollen typically will rise as tree pollen starts to fall off later this month.

Days are getting longer as we get closer to summer solstice next month. By next Friday, Chicagoland will see our first sunset of the year after 8 pm. Enjoy the longer days!

Rainfall has been lacking in the first 6 days of the month. May is typically our wettest month of the year so that’s why we’re already down 3/4 of an inch of rain. The lack of rain in the Great Plains continues to cause some serious to extreme dry conditions and some of that abnormally dry weather that moved into western Illinois last week has now entered central Illinois and the southern part of Chicagoland as well. While we’ll see some rain moving through tonight and Monday—if they miss your neighborhood in that highlighted yellow area—you’ll want to make sure to give your yard and garden a drink of some water this week.

Severe storm threat