Monday forecast: Chilly stretch ends as warmth returns this week

After a few chilly, fall-like days, warmer temperatures will make their return this week.

Temps are forecast to climb back into the low 70s on Monday, under mostly sunny skies. Kickoff for the Bears’ home opener at Soldier Field against the Minnesota Vikings on “Monday Night Football” should be in the comfortable upper 60s.

Temps get even warmer on Tuesday, with highs closer to 80, then Wednesday could see temps rise all the way to the mid-80s in some locations.

After a midweek spike in temps, Chicagoland should get back into the comfortable mid- to upper 70s for Thursday and Friday, with low 80s and mostly sunny skies appearing likely for next weekend.

The warm-up comes as upper-level steering winds blowing in from Canada’s Yukon Territory will shift north and east, replaced by a west/southwest jet-stream flow that will allow much warmer conditions by the middle of this week.  

Forecast 850-millibar 10-day temperature anomaly animation

Blue colors represent areas of cooler than normal, while orange and red colors depict areas of warmer than normal. The darker the shading, the more above or below normal temperatures are likely to be. 

This technique is a good proxy indicator of how temperatures will respond at ground level. You can see by this animation that we’re headed for much warmer weather next week following a chilly weekend.

Forecast precipitation: Next 7 days

No help from Mother Nature is coming for area lawns and gardens.

No measurable rainfall is expected across the Chicago area, or even the entire state of Illinois and Indiana, through at least next Friday night, Sept. 12.

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