Chicago to stay cool while the West, Plains bake
With upper-air jet stream winds stuck in a northwest flow, cooler Canadian-source
high pressure will be the dominant factor in Chicago's weather in the days ahead. Rain
may be plentiful Downstate, but Chicago and the northern third of Illinois should miss
most of the action. Light showers are expected Monday night and Tuesday, and a band
of rain is likely to skim by mainly to the south of the Chicago area later Thursday. By
Saturday, southerly winds should usher in a warming trend and an increasing chance of
significant rains that could persist well into the first part of next week.
AS WEST COAST HEAT MOVES INTO PLAINS, SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS
Sunday was the fourth consecutive day of record highs in California. An excessive heat
watch was posted for Southern California, southern Nevada and western Arizona, where
100-degree highs were commonplace. Phoenix recorded its first 100-degree high of
2008 on Sunday. This West Coast heat is expected to end by Tuesday as an upper-level
low-pressure circulation moves into the Southwest. Subsequently, warm moist
southerly flow directly out of the Gulf of Mexico will set the stage for heavy rains and
severe weather in the Plains later this week.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist