After pleasant temperatures and sunshine on Tuesday, the Chicago area will get a big blast of summery weather in coming days, with a chance of severe weather looming later in the week.
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, sunny skies are expected to be in place for the start of the day Wednesday, but clouds will slowly build in during the afternoon hours.
Humidity will also start to trend upward, with highs expected to reach the upper-80s across much of the area. Some locations away from Lake Michigan could even see highs crack 90 degrees, according to forecast models.
While humidity is expected to rise, there is a possibility that the air won’t have enough moisture to allow for showers and thunderstorms, sweeping in from Iowa and Minnesota, to remain intact as they arrive in the Chicago area.
Some widely scattered showers are still possible, but the main threat of showers and storms will emerge on Thursday.
Temperatures will once again threaten 90 degrees across the area on that day, with high humidity pushing the heat index above that threshold across the area.
By the afternoon hours, showers and thunderstorms are once again expected to fire ahead of a sweeping cold front, with a marginal risk of severe weather forecasted in the Chicago area, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
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The main threats associated with any storms will be gusty and potentially damaging winds, though it’s unclear how widespread those storms will be on Thursday, according to SPC model guidance.
Once the storms clear out, temperatures are once again expected to cool into the 70s by Friday, but should rebound by the end of the weekend into the mid-to-upper 80s or even the low-90s in some locations.
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