Chilly Rain Showers & Maybe Small Hail on the Way By Late Today

Here we go again! We have a slow-moving frontal zone moving through the area and we have gone from muggy weather and highs near 80 to chilly breezes and temperatures struggling just to reach 60. We have wind chills right now in eastern Illinois in the lower 40s! Take a look at the incredible temperature contrast we are dealing with. The bigger the temperature gradient or change in temperatures from north to south, usually the tougher the forecast. Today is no exception.

Kelly and I have been pulling our hair out in this pattern. I reminded her we are just the messengers and that we at least did put a chance of rain in the forecast today. Most models had the closest rain to us near Evansville last night and even early this morning, but we both know these fronts can stall out easily this time of year and at least went with a 50% chance of rain today. I am not one to use percentages, but in this pattern you just have to. So once again it was a tough forecast and at least our gardens will get some of that needed rain after most of us missing out on the rain last night. I say better late than never.

So here comes the rain again and you can blame a strong La Nina jet stream once again roaring through the Midwest. This can sometimes form little ripples of low pressure and we can go from dry to wet in a hurry. The jet stream is also paralleling our front which is causing it to stall just south of Lafayette. This will likely bring some rain showers by later afternoon and this evening. We cannot rule out a brief thunderstorm and with a low freezing level we could have small hail.

Here is the good news. It does still look like we will clear out in time for the NCAA Golf Championships on Wednesday. Join me for more here on the blog. I will have your detailed golf forecast coming up. We will talk also talk about Martian weather, explosions on the moon, and much more! So much to talk about and so little time. Just make sure not to get caught in the rain before I check back with you. Have a great day and I will call Kelly to check on her again. I am not the only one very sensitive to making sure we have dependable, accurate forecasts. Kelly does a great job day in and day out and Weather Team 18 is very lucky to have her. Have a great day!