Thursday Night

Colder and cloudier tomorrow with a high in the mid-40s. There might be some drizzly rain but probably not. Then 50s over the weekend and 60s again on Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday

Storms! Possibly severe! Expect them to come sometime around 2pm and end sometime around 8pm. If you haven't left the house yet, bring an umbrella and some warmer clothes to wear later. The high will reach 70 today and the air will feel soft and caressing, but after the storms the temperatures will drop into the 40s. Check this radar throughout the day if you want to know what the storms are doing. The arrows indicate the direction of individual storm cells, the numbers thier height (anything over 450 is serious) and the boxes are counties under watches or warnings.

Highs in the upper 40s and low 50s for the rest of the week, then rising through the weekend.

Tuesday

What? What are you doing inside on your computer reading some blog? You can't enjoy nice weather without some kind of media verification? Yes, it's nice out there. There won't be any storms until tomorrow night. Relax and go outside. Surely those nice people down the block will let you join their barbeque, or maybe you can sit by that old man on the park bench and look at the ladies' legs?

Tornado Learning Corner (with activities)

Now that we have escaped the risk of freezing to death I think it is time to turn our attention to other weather-related ways that we can die, the best of course being the tornado. You won't have the moments of the sublime that a lengthy demise in a snowbank at 40 below can afford, but through death by tornado can you be killed by small flying pieces of your own home, or better yet, you can be swept off the face of the earth, never to be found, or possibly be rained down in some field miles away. In any case your death will be strange, gruesome, or mysterious. Unfortunately here in Chicago we are under almost no risk of such an exciting death. I have just researched tornado occurences in Cook county and frankly there aren't many, and they are boring. The last recorded tornado in Cook county occured in 1991, and the last death by tornado was in 1976.

But don't despair! You can make a tornado in your own apartment with a hotplate and some cardboard!
If that was too much for you here is a stupid thing you can click on to make a tornado right now.
And if you are interested in the effects of tornadoes on chicken feathers go here.
If you want to know why there are so few tornadoes in metropolitan areas...I don't know. I was originally going to find out but I was distracted by the cardboard and the chickens, and now it is too late and I should be in bed. Sorry, I will find out next time.

Monday

Saturday Night

Sunny and pleasant tomorrow with a high of 50. Monday will be at least 5 degrees warmer, and then this much-hyped 70 degree weather will actually come on Tuesday and last through Wednesday (but accompanied by storms). But, I am sorry to relate, we will probably get some snow after that, so wait a few weeks to burn your hats and gloves.

Friday Night

Warmer tomorrow with a high in the 40s, although it will remain cloudy through the day and we will have very light drizzle. But then... slowly warming through the weekend and the early part of next week, reaching the 60s on Wednesday! As if this wasn't good enough, we might get some real storms somewhere near Wednesday. Spring!

Is Tom Skilling on drugs?

Anonymous said...

Tom Skilling says it'll be like 68 on wednesday next week- is he smoking crack at the WGN weathercenter or what? Also: What is your professional opinion of Tom Skilling now that these allegations of drug abuse are out in the open?


After much research and data analysis I have come to the conclusion, that no, Tom Skilling is not smoking crack and yes, there is a very good chance that the temperatures will reach the upper 60s on Wednesday next week. That said, even if Skilling was smoking crack my high professional opinion of him would remain unchanged. I find that the most lively and accurate forecasts can be made while 'under the influence'.

In other Tom Skilling news, I have just discovered that he has his own weather blog, which puts mine to shame, and that he made my two favorite made-for-tv weather movies of all time: "It Sounded Like a Freight Train" and "Chasing the Wind". If you get your jollies from watching people herding their children to the basement screaming "Oh My God It's Coming Right Towards Us!" while a tornado looms beyond their patio doors, then these films are for you.

Friday Morning

This snow will turn to rain sometime after noon, and then probably turn back to snow tonight. High today in the upper 30s. Cloudy.

Thursday Morning

Cloudy and somewhat warmer today. Light rain beginning in the evening and possibly turning to snow in the early morning tomorrow while the temperatures drop to the 30s again. Sorry. The weekend looks like it will be mind-numbingly dull and grey at this point.

Tuesday Night

This rain right now is turning into snow, and it will last (but only in the lightest way) until tomorrow morning. The ground is so wet and warm that the snow should melt right into it. High tomorrow in the upper 30s, possibly clearing later. My long term "when will it get warm" forecast of earlier was probably too optimistic, but I will hold to it for the time being and hope that the temperature will reach 60, if only for a minute or two, near the end of the week.

Monday Night

Tomorrow will be windier than today and feel colder although the temperatures will be nearly the same. We will probably get snow flurries in the late evening.

Sunday Night

Tomorrow, partly cloudy with a high in the upper 30s. The rest of the week looks colder than I had expected earlier with highs in the 40s. But there is still hope because it looks like some systems will move through, and if their path lies to the north of us we will get a warm front or two.

Thursday Morning

The National Weather Service says that this snow should end around noon, but it looks to me like it will probably last through the afternoon, and the high will be only in the mid-30s. Because the ground is so warm we won't have much accumulation.

Tuesday Morning

Not much going on today. Partly cloudy. 40 degrees. Thrills! Drunken forecast. Sorry. Bye.

Monday Morning

Warmer and more pleasant, cloudy but with an occasional appearance by the sun.

Sunday Morning

Bright and cold, with a high near 35. Keep on the sunny side of the street.

When will it get warm?

I predict one warm day (above 50 degrees) between Wednesday and Saturday next week, possibly two in a row. I predict three or more warm days and one day above 60 degrees for the week after next. All of these warm days will be interspersed with cold days, of course, because it is March.

Friday Night

Boring and cold with a high of 30 tomorrow. Mostly cloudy with an occasional appearance by the sun, and of course the ubiquitous snow flurry.

Friday Morning Update

This sun will last until 11:30, then cloudy and light snow for the rest of the day.

Thursday Night

Tomorrow will be similar to today, but with slightly less snow and greater wind speeds. The temperature will drop to the teens tomorrow night and rise all the way up into the twenties on Saturday. These lovely conditions will prevail through Tuesday and possibly beyond. Hurrah for March! Despair prevails! Hide under your blankets and cry.

Wednesday Night

How wrong I was on Tuesday! The fancy new computer model, unhindered by optimism and longings for spring, was right...miserable conditions for at least the next four days. My apologies. The clouds will move in tonight, and we will have periods of snow and possibly some sleety rain during the day on Thursday (similar to last Monday). Then cloudy, highs in the low thirties, and light snow on and off through the weekend and possibly beyond.

Learning Corner

Anonymous said...
'So when is it, like, gonna, like, get warm? And not just for a day, but for weeks on end!
huh? smarty-pants? got the answer, groundhog?
waiting for the correct response,

Cold and Sick of It'

So, like, what's your definition of warm huh? Shackleton's men in Antarctica were taking their shirts off and swooning from the heat when it was, like, 30 degrees. So maybe it has, like, been warm, for, like, days and weeks on end and you're just, like, a wimp or something.

Anonymous said...
'I was trying to explain to someone that it's always colder in the winter when it's clear out, and on cloudy days, it's warmer. Is that even true, or was I starting one of those bullshit conversations?'

It's mainly true at night. The earth radiates heat at night (especially after a sunny day), and if a cloud cover moves in it acts as a blanket and keeps a good deal of the heat in. On a clear night the heat just escapes to outer space, and this is most noticeable during the winter.

However, it's partly true during the day also, but for different reasons. Warm days during the winter are always the result of a warm front that is bringing warm wet air from the south into the region. This means that clouds and precipitation will come with it. The warm front is usually followed by a cold front that pushes down behind it from the north, and brings more clouds and precipitation, but of a more uncomfortable variety. And then this is usually followed by high pressure and clear cold dry air, which remains until the next system moves through. So the warm days will be cloudy, and the sunny days will be especially cold and piercing, and everything in between will just be crappy.
Here is an illustration:

Some other anonymous writes:
'And what's that thing you see out on Lake Michigan? A water treatment plant? Weather station? An evil science lab?'

What thing? Where on Lake Michigan? It's kind of a big place with lots of things on it. Please clarify and I will do my best to help.

Tuesday Morning

The sun is deceptive! Cold and clear with a high of 30 today. Tomorrow will be the same but about 5 degrees warmer. On Thursday the next system will move through, bringing clouds, rain and slightly warmer weather (like 40s). The National Weather Service predicts a bleak and cold weekend with highs in the 20s, and a bunch of the forecasts you read will tell you something similar. They have this one computer model that they think is the greatest thing, but all of the other models disagree with it and so do I. So, expect maybe one cold day, but then highs in the 40s or 50s this weekend.

Monday Morning

The temperature will begin falling in the afternoon and will drop into the teens tonight, accompanied by a small amount of rain. Tomorrow the high will be in the low 30s, and the sky will be clear.

Saturday Night

Tomorrow will be lovely with a high in the mid-50s, although it will be a bit windy so you will be cold in the shade. Unfortunately we will have some rain on Monday and then the temperatures will drop back into the 30s, so enjoy this while it lasts.

Friday Night

Boring and grey with a high near 40 tomorrow. There may be a few snowflakes floating around in the morning, but they are nothing to upset yourself about. The clouds will clear a little in the afternoon. On Sunday the high will be at least in the mid-40s but could possibly rise as high as 50 if this warm front gets its act together, so maybe you can air out your long underwear for a day.

Friday (4th) Morning

Warmer than expected today with a high around 40. Expect some precipitation late tonight (10ish) but nothing major, rain or snow depending on the temperature. Then highs in the 40s for the next few days with occasional rain, depending on what this system is up to which the NWS can't seem to figure out.