Warmer, Wetter Weather Next Several Days

BY JEFF BROWN AND DeLOSS JAHNKE, FARM BUREAU RADIO NETWORK

Let the meltdown begin.

After a series of weekend storms left more than a foot of snow in parts of northern Illinois, the state could be in for an extended period of mostly warmer weather over the next six to 10 days, says Freese-Notis meteorologist Dan Hicks.

“(Today) and Thursday, we’ll see a lot of 30s and low 40s over the snow-covered northern areas of the Midwest. Farther south, 40s and 50s returning,” Hicks said Tuesday during an interview with the RFD Radio Network®. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see a 60-degree reading before the week is out in the southern Midwest.”

Temperatures will dip Friday and Saturday, Hicks said, before the higher temperatures return next week.

The warmup could also create conditions more conducive to a different type of precipitation – rainfall.

“The weather pattern that’s setting up as we get into the six- to 10-day timeframe … should be more favorable for heavier precipitation,” Hicks said. “Given the temperature pattern we have, certainly some of that will fall as rain.”

More than half the state – mostly central and southern Illinois – is considered abnormally dry or in the early stages of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Hicks cautioned, however, that soils in some parts of Illinois could remain frozen when the rain starts to fall, preventing any moisture from making much of a dent.

The recent snowstorms put northern Illinois on the plus side for precipitation in February, but southern Illinois remains well below normal.