Storms dropped more rain in less than hour at O’Hare Thursday afternoon than fell in the entire month of May 2023 (0.71″)—52 mph gusts accompanied the storm—yet not a drop fell across town at Midway Airport—warmth to continue into early next week—but tightening pressure gradient to bring lower dew point/more stable air into Chicago for weekend shutting t-storm development…

True color satellite view at the height of Thursday afternoon t-storms in parts of the area

Temps surged to 91° for a third consecutive day at O’Hare—and a fourth day day of 90s is predicted Friday.

Inland highs hit the mid 90s at the same time a 7th day of northeasterly lake breezes held mid afternoon lakeshore highs Thursday to the upper 60s to low 80s—not as cool lakeside as in recent days—but definitely cooler than away from the lake.

PRECIP SLIDESHOW

  • THE PRECIP PICTURE IS MODELED TO CONTINUE “SUB-PAR”. This is a forecast of the % of NORMAL PRECIP EXPECTED in DAYS 1-5
  • % OF NORMAL PRECIP DAYS 6 to 10
  • % OF NORMAL PRECIP DAYS 11-15
  • HERE’S THE HIGH PRESSURE with its strong full-fetch (i.e. full length of Lake Michigan) predicted wind field Tuesday
  • FORECAST WED surface map showing another day of STRONG, WELL DEVELOPING “NNE” WINDS. This is a very cool pattern for Chicago. Warming returns later next week
  • 24 HOUR T-STORM PROBABILITIES–for the period from 7am CDT Friday through. T-storms shifts west out of the Chicago metro area

Check the day to day dew point forecast maps showing atmospheric moisture dropping into the 40s and low 50s for the weekend—much lower than the HUMID dew point recorded at one point Thursday–the highest atmospheric moisture level in Chicago since last September.

HIGH PRESSURE TO SINK INTO THE CHICAGO AREA BEHIND A COLD FRONT MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NEXT WEEK

This sets up a FULL FETCH “NNE” wind likely to run the length of Lake Michigan into Chicago. Such full fetch flows produce noticeable drops in Chicago–and it’s likely lakeshore temps may pull back to the 50s or ow 60s next Tue & Wed as inland temps fall back to the 70s.

WARMING HINTED LATER NEXT WEEK AND THE WEEKEND WHICH FOLLOWS ON INTO THE FOLLOWING WEEK

Chicago temps could surge back to the mid to upper 80s later next week into the following weekend.