Happy last week of February! March starts on a Friday with one extra day in February, thanks to Leap Day! The last few days of February through early March will be a rough ride. There is something for everyone! Cold temperatures, warm temperatures, sunny days, stormy days, and even a chance of snow! Let us explain it all to you in this quick summary!
Yo-yo temperatures: Sunday morning was cold! Temperatures were only in the 20s for the first half of the weekend and felt even cooler thanks to the high winds. The winds have shifted to the south and will help bring temperatures up significantly this afternoon. Plan for highs in the mid to upper 40s on Sunday. That means about 20 degrees warmer than Saturday. However, the southerly breeze will pick up this afternoon with gusts of 20-30 mph. Winds will make the 40s look like the 30s.
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The quick warm-up continues during the work week! We climb another ten degrees on Monday and about another ten degrees on Tuesday. Tuesday looks to be the warmest day, with temperatures reaching highs in the 60s! Wednesday will start out warm, with temperatures near 60 degrees, but with a cold front passing through, temperatures are expected to drop significantly throughout the day. It will be colder by Leap Day – 1930s plan. The cold is short, though! By the first day of March, temperatures will be back in the 50s! It looks like March is coming like a lamb this year.
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Sun, storms and snow: Not only will the temperatures be across the board, but so will the other conditions. There is only a slight chance of showers this evening, so much of Sunday looks to be dry. A quick morning shower on Monday will result in another mainly dry day. However, rain and storm chances increase Tuesday as a strong area of low pressure moves over the region and pulls a cold front across Ohio Tuesday night into Wednesday. There are still some timing issues with this system, but as of Sunday morning, it looks like the best chance for showers and widespread storms will be late Tuesday into Wednesday.
There is also the potential for some of these storms to become strong or severe. The Storm Prediction Center has a portion of our viewing area at risk for severe weather on Tuesday. There is a better chance of western intensity in Illinois and Indiana during the afternoon on Tuesday. Our green Western communities present a marginal risk of severe weather. This is a level 1 out of 5 and means that some storms could become large and powerful and bring the risk of damaging wind gusts. We'll be monitoring this system closely in the coming days, but since it's been some time since we've had to deal with severe weather, it's good to have an early warning! Even if we don't see severe storms, there will likely be heavy rain and stronger winds Tuesday into Wednesday.
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Following the cold front, temperatures will drop, and the weather will turn from rain to snow by Wednesday evening. The snow doesn't look like it will last long. Thursday will be mainly dry and cool, but as mentioned earlier, it will cool down quickly! Looking ahead to the first few weeks of March, there is a strong sign of above average temperatures as well!
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