Saturday forecast: Clouds clear by early afternoon, high around 50 for Chicagoland

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After rain overnight and a dreary start to Saturday morning, clouds cleared by early afternoon Saturday, yielding to some sunshine around Chicagoland.

The rain moved off to the east/southeast on Saturday morning, into areas that certainly don’t need more rain (see below).

In Chicagoland, high temperatures Saturday will reached right around 50 degrees away from Lake Michigan, but a northerly breeze off the lake will keep temps in the chilly low to mid-40s for lakeside areas.

After a mix of clouds and sun on Sunday, snow showers and chilly temps are forecast for the start of the week week. But by the end of it, temps should warm back up into the 60s (see more below).

The coming work week opens with highs well below normal both Monday and Tuesday. High temps are forecast to be between five and 13 degrees below normal from Saturday through Tuesday, before it warms up later next week.

Cloud cover thickens again Sunday night into Monday, as a disturbance from the northwest arrives and, combined with chilly air, brings the chance for some wet snow showers on Monday. Morning commuters heading out to start their work week might be wondering if it’s still February and not April.

However, surface temps will be too warm for any measurable snow accumulation Monday.

In other locations in the U.S., a catastrophic and life-threatening flood event is ongoing across portions of the Lower Ohio Valley, Mid-South and Ozarks, where some areas have already received 5 to 10 inches of rain.

Potentially long and severe disruptions to communities are likely, as more heavy rainfall on already saturated ground is forecast through the coming weekend.     

For Chicagoland, while we’re about to have a stretch of below-normal temps, normal highs will continue to rise through April before reaching 70 by mid-May. By the end of the coming work week, we should be back to around normal highs.

The image below shows the increase of our normal temperatures through the end of May.