Sunday forecast: Hazy sunshine and warm, with inland highs in the 80s

It’s understandable if you’re planning to hunker down and watch football Sunday, especially the Bears against the Lions at noon.

But you might also want to find some time to get outside in Chicagoland, because it’s shaping up to be a beautiful Sunday.

The forecast calls for hazy sunshine and just a few clouds, with the warmest temperatures inland, where highs could creep near the mid-80s. Along the lake, however, highs will be in the pleasant mid-70s.

And the warm, summerlike air looks to be sticking around Chicagoland for a bit, with Monday highs in the mid-80s inland and the upper 70s by the lake as we get into a pleasant-looking start to the work week (see more below).

The extended outlook calls for mostly sunny skies and temps in the seasonal upper 70s and lower 80s, along with sunny skies, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday will bring increasing clouds and a chance for showers late in the day, with highs near 80. The Friday forecast calls for more clouds, with cooler temps in the mid-70s and some rain at times. 

Sunday: Forecast upper-level winds

A classic Omega Block Pattern (named due to the pattern that resembles the Greek letter Omega) is taking shape, as Chicago and the Midwest sit under a warm ridge of high pressure, while the cooler, unsettled trough pattern takes place across portions of the West and Northeastern U.S.

Temperatures will continue to be well above normal as we move forward into the coming work week, but there will be day-to-day lake breezes cooling areas near Lake Michigan by several degrees.

Forecast average temperature anomaly: Sept. 12-18

The greatest area of above normal temperatures is forecast across the Midwest and north into the Prairie Provinces of Canada, while unsettled weather keeps it cooler than normal across the Southeastern U.S.

Forecast average temperature anomaly: Sept. 19-25

While still above normal for much of the U.S., the temperature surplus is not as high as the previous week. A transition to cooler weather is likely at the end of this forecast period.

Forecast total rainfall through Friday, September 19

The bulk of the rain that is forecast to fall across the Chicago already happened on Saturday.

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