Editor's Note: Live coverage of the eclipse from the path of totality begins in the player above starting at 7 a.m. Tune in for live totality starting at 1:55 p.m.
Following a day full of clouds and rain, the Chicago area Monday will see "ideal conditions" for the total solar eclipse set to take place in the afternoon.
Those ideal conditions don't just include clear skies, the NBC 5 Storm Team said -- they also include temperatures that feel like early summer.
"It's not only fantastic because we have a solar eclipse," NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said. "It's also fantastic because we have 70s in the forecast."
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, early Monday morning for the Chicago area started out partly cloudy. As the sun came up, those clouds cleared, and it was expected to remain clear and mostly sunny into the afternoon.
Chicago is expected to see around 94% of totality Monday, according to experts. And while Indianapolis and Southern Illinois will see complete totality, the forecast in those parts isn't looking as bright, Roman said, with mostly-to-partly sunny skies expected, and clouds breaking at times.
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Either way, Roman said, it will be warm.
According to Roman, Chicago is expected to see a high temperature Monday of 70 degrees, with some slightly cooler temperatures to the north. In Carbondale and Indianapolis, those temperatures are expected to be even higher, at 78 and 76 degrees respectively.
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Around the time of the eclipse however, temperatures will drop a bit, Roman said. By 12 p.m. in the Chicago area, temperatures are expected to hit 65 degrees, Roman said. Around 2 p.m. -- when the eclipse is expected to be visible -- temperatures will drop slightly, to 63 degrees.
Around 4 p.m. is when temperatures will hit 70, Roman said.
According to Roman, Monday will also be windy, with wind gusts as high as 30 miles per hour at times.
