391  
FXUS63 KLOT 221106  
AFDLOT  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE, IL  
506 AM CST SAT FEB 22 2025  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- WARMING TREND INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. HIGHS IN THE 40S  
AND 50S MONDAY AND TUESDAY, AND POSSIBLY INTO WEDNESDAY.  
 
- CHANCES FOR RAIN/SHOWERS MONDAY NIGHT (20-30%) AND WEDNESDAY  
INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT (30-50%)  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 210 AM CST SAT FEB 22 2025  
 
THROUGH SUNDAY:  
 
TWO MID TO UPPER-LEVEL WAVES WILL BOOKEND THE FORECAST AREA  
TODAY, FILTERING SOME UPPER-LEVEL CLOUDS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH.  
INCREASING SOUTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN A LOW OVER NORTHERN ONTARIO  
AND A PERSISTENT RIDGE ALIGNED WITH THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY WILL  
RESULT IN GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH LATE THIS MORNING INTO THE  
AFTERNOON. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE TO MODERATE, WITH LOW/NO-SNOWPACK  
AREAS LIKELY SURPASSING THE FREEZING MARK THIS AFTERNOON.  
 
UPPER-LEVEL CLOUDS WILL THICKEN ACROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT INTO  
SUNDAY MORNING AS AN UPPER-LEVEL WAVE SHIFTS ESE. A DECENT  
AMOUNT OF VIRGA WILL GRADUALLY SATURATE CLOUD BASES DOWN TO  
AROUND 10KFT OR LOWER BY AROUND SUNRISE. WOULD NOT BE ENTIRELY  
SURPRISED TO SEE SOME FLURRIES REACH THE GROUND FOR A FEW HOURS  
THROUGH MID-MORNING ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND ESPECIALLY  
CLOSER TO THE WISCONSIN LINE. OTHERWISE, TEMPS WILL AGAIN SLOWLY  
MODERATE WITH HIGHS RANGING FROM THE MID 30S NORTH TO LOW TO  
MID 40S SOUTH.  
 
KLUBER  
 
SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY:  
 
A SERIES OF UPPER-LEVEL WAVES WILL SCOOT ACROSS THE REGION NEXT  
WEEK, DELIVERING AT LEAST SOME INTERMITTENT PRECIPITATION  
CHANCES ALONG WITH NOTABLY MILDER CONDITIONS.  
 
THE FIRST FEATURE WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY EVENING AND OVERNIGHT ON  
THE NOSE OF A 180 KNOT JET STREAK, ALTHOUGH THE MAIN VORT MAX  
WILL REMAIN WELL TO OUR NORTH. WITH ATTENDANT HEIGHT FALLS  
FOCUSED PRIMARILY ACROSS WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN, ANY  
PRECIPITATION OF CONSEQUENCE WITHIN THE SYSTEM'S BROAD N-S WARM  
ADVECTION WING LOOKS TO REMAIN NORTH AND EAST OF THE FORECAST  
AREA. SUPPOSE WE CAN'T ENTIRELY RULE OUT A FEW SPRINKLES (OR  
EVEN AN ICE PELLET GIVEN SUB-CLOUD DRY AIR WITH WETBULB  
TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING) ACROSS PARTS OF NE ILLINOIS, BUT  
CHANCES ARE UNDER 10 PERCENT. WE'LL BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS MONDAY  
AFTERNOON, AND WHILE HIGH-LEVEL CLOUD COVER LOOKS SET TO  
INCREASE FAIRLY QUICKLY BY LATE IN THE DAY, THE COMBINATION OF  
BREEZY SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS AND 925 MB TEMPERATURES IN THE +3 TO  
+7 C RANGE SHOULD HELP BOOST HIGHS INTO THE 40S AND 50S, WARMEST  
SOUTH OF I-80 WHERE THE SNOWPACK IS ESSENTIALLY NON-EXISTENT.  
 
THE NEXT DISTURBANCE IN THE WAVE TRAIN WILL PUSH THROUGH MONDAY  
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF NORTH-SOUTH  
WOBBLING ACROSS THE GUIDANCE SUITE WITH THIS FEATURE, ALTHOUGH  
A RELATIVELY MORE STEADY STATE SOLUTION ADVERTISED BY THE ECMWF  
OFFERS UP A MORE AMPLIFIED AND FARTHER SOUTH SOLUTION. THIS  
WOULD BRING INCREASED FORCING FOR ASCENT AND BETTER  
PRECIPITATION CHANCES INTO THE LOCAL AREA COMPARED TO THE  
FARTHER NORTH GFS/GEFS OUTPUT. BLENDED POPS STILL LOOK OKAY FOR  
THIS TIME RANGE, IN THE LOW-MID CHANCE RANGE MONDAY  
EVENING/EARLY OVERNIGHT GIVEN THE SPREAD IN MODEL GUIDANCE.  
THERMAL PROFILES LOOK JUST WARM ENOUGH TO KEEP EVERYTHING AS  
RAIN.  
 
CONDITIONS LOOK TO CLEAR OUT NICELY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING AND  
AFTERNOON AS A SURFACE RIDGE AXIS VERY BRIEFLY BUILDS BACK  
ACROSS THE REGION. HIGH TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE SIMILAR, OR EVEN  
A SMIDGE WARMER THAN ON MONDAY.  
 
ON WEDNESDAY, A POSITIVE-TILT SHORTWAVE NESTLED WITHIN A BROADER  
LONGWAVE TROUGH IS SLATED TO SHIFT ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND GREAT  
LAKES. MID-UPPER LEVEL TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO APPROACH -30  
C WHICH WILL SUPPORT FAIRLY STEEP 700-500 MB LAPSE RATES AHEAD  
OF THE MAIN VORT LOBE INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON. AS A  
RESULT, IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT PRECIPITATION LOOKS DECIDEDLY  
MORE SHOWERY AND CONVECTIVE WITH THIS WAVE. STILL NOT SUPER  
CONFIDENT ON THE PRECISE SYSTEM TRACK AND PLACEMENT OF HIGHEST  
PRECIPITATION CHANCES, BUT THERE IS A BETTER SIGNAL IN ENSEMBLE  
GUIDANCE FOR AT LEAST LIGHT QPF ACROSS THE REGION COMPARED TO  
THE MONDAY NIGHT WAVE. WHILE TEMPERATURES WILL BE A BIT COOLER,  
THERMAL PROFILES STILL LOOK TO SUPPORT LARGELY NON-FROZEN  
PRECIPITATION. IF CONVECTIVE PROCESSES END UP DOMINATING, THE  
COLUMN COULD COOL SUFFICIENTLY TO FLIP THINGS A BIT MORE TOWARDS  
SNOW (OR EVEN A LITTLE SLEET IF UPRIGHT CONVECTION IS  
REALIZED), BUT THERE'S STILL WAY TOO MUCH UNCERTAINTY AT THIS  
POINT TO GET THAT FINE IN THE GRIDDED FORECAST.  
 
THE PATTERN UPSTAIRS WILL REMAIN EXCEEDINGLY ACTIVE THROUGH THE  
REST OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND WITH SEVERAL ADDITIONAL  
CHANCES FOR PRECIP ALTHOUGH NOTHING THAT CURRENTLY LOOKS OVERLY  
IMPACTFUL AT THIS POINT.  
 
CARLAW  
 

 
   
AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 506 AM CST SAT FEB 22 2025  
 
THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT AVIATION WEATHER CONCERNS. SOUTHWEST  
WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS MORNING, WITH GUSTS INTO THE 20-25 KT  
RANGE EXPECTED INTO THE AFTERNOON BEFORE EASING AROUND OR  
SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET. OCCASIONAL UPPER TO MID-LEVEL CLOUD DECKS  
WILL STREAM OVERHEAD, WITH CLOUDS EXPECTED TO THICKEN LATE  
TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING.  
 
CARLAW  
 

 
   
LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
IL...NONE.  
IN...NONE.  
LM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST THIS  
EVENING FOR WINTHROP HARBOR TO WILMETTE HARBOR IL.  
 

 
 

 
 
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