Chicago’s hope for rain this week pinned on Dennis
With dangerous killer Hurricane Dennis picking up energy from the warm seas of the Gulf of Mexico, latest forecasts Saturday evening called for a gradual strengthening of the storm with Catagory 4 winds well in excess of 130 m.p.h. a distict possibility when it makes landfall somewhere along the Gulf coast from the Florida panhandle to Louisiana later today. Storm surge waves as it hits could be as high as 12 to 14 feet. Four to 8" rains should touch the west coast of Florida and spread inland ahead of and with the storm center. Flooding rainfall will probably precede the weakening low as it moves north into the Middle Mississippi and lower Ohio River valleys Monday and Tuesday. Moisture associated with the remnants of Dennis could make its way as far north as Chicago later Tuesday and Wednesday just as a cool front moves through from the NW giving NE Illinois its best and probably only chance of rain this coming week.