315  
FNUS73 KLOT 271303  
FWSLOT  
 
SPOT FORECAST FOR DITCH RX...USFS  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL  
703 AM CST FRI FEB 27 2026  
 
FORECAST IS BASED ON IGNITION TIME OF 0735 CST ON FEBRUARY 27.  
IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE, CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER  
SERVICE.  
 
PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE AT (815) 834-0666 IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS  
OR CONCERNS WITH THIS FORECAST.  
   
DISCUSSION  
 
DENSE FOG WILL VERY GRADUALLY ERODE THROUGH MID MORNING WITH SKIES  
BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY.  
 
DRY, WINDY AND MUCH WARMER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR TODAY,  
WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING THE LOW TO MID 60S, DRIVEN BY STRONG  
SOUTHWEST WINDS GUSTING TO 30 TO 35 MPH, HIGHEST LATE IN THE  
AFTERNOON. THE COMBINATION OF WARM, WINDY WEATHER CONDITIONS AND  
DRY FUELS WILL LIKELY LEAD TO A HEIGHTENED THREAT OF GRASS AND  
BRUSH FIRE SPREAD, WITH MINIMUM AFTERNOON RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE  
25 TO 35 PERCENT RANGE EXPECTED. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR  
AFTERNOON MIXING TO BE A BIT DEEPER THAN CURRENTLY FORECAST, WHICH  
COULD RESULT IN STRONGER GUSTS AND EVEN LOWER RH VALUES FOR A VERY  
BRIEF WINDOW BETWEEN 3 AND 5 PM CST.  
   
REST OF TODAY  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........AREAS OF DENSE FOG EARLY IN THE MORNING THEN  
BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY.  
TEMPERATURE.........35 AT IGNITION...MAX 64.  
RH..................91 PERCENT AT IGNITION...MIN 25 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........WINDS SOUTHWEST AT 8 MPH AT  
IGNITION...OTHERWISE SOUTHWEST WINDS 6 TO 9 MPH  
THEN INCREASING TO 17 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO  
AROUND 35 MPH EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON INCREASING  
TO AROUND 21 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 40 MPH  
LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.  
CHANCE OF PCPN......0 PERCENT.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTHWEST 8 TO 12 MPH INCREASING TO 17 TO 20  
MPH LATE IN THE MORNING, THEN INCREASING TO 24  
TO 28 MPH EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON INCREASING TO  
30 TO 31 MPH LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......600 FT AGL AT IGNITION...OTHERWISE 6300 FT AGL.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....POOR /4100 KNOT-FT/ AT IGNITION.  
MAX...EXCELLENT /81400 KNOT-FT/ INCREASING TO  
EXCELLENT (121600 KNOT-FT) LATE IN THE  
AFTERNOON, THEN DECREASING TO GOOD (35900  
KNOT-FT) LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.  
 
TIME (CST) 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM  
SKY (%).........14 21 24 18 13 7 8 9 10 15 19  
WEATHER TYPE....FOG FOG FOG  
TEMP............29 35 41 47 53 58 61 63 64 64 62  
RH..............91 75 61 50 42 37 33 29 26 25 29  
20 FT WIND DIR..200 210 210 220 220 220 220 220 220 230 230  
20 FT WIND SPD..7 8 10 13 16 20 21 22 23 23 18  
20 FT WIND GUST.9 15 20 24 26 30 32 35 37 39 35  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.4 0.6 0.8 1.4 2.0 2.7 3.9 5.1 6.3 4.7 1.8  
TRANSP WIND DIR.200 210 210 220 220 220 220 220 220 230 230  
TRANSP WIND SPD.8 8 12 17 20 24 24 28 31 30 23  
CHC OF PCPN (%).0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
VRATE KT-FT/1K..3 4 8 21 34 56 81 122 170 122 36  
   
TONIGHT  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........PARTLY CLOUDY.  
TEMPERATURE.........MIN 29.  
RH..................MAX 81 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........WEST WINDS 13 TO 16 MPH BECOMING NORTHWEST 7 TO  
10 MPH IN THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT, THEN  
SHIFTING TO THE NORTH AROUND 6 MPH AFTER 3 AM.  
CHANCE OF PCPN......0 PERCENT.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....WEST 21 TO 22 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST 16  
TO 20 MPH LATE IN THE EVENING, THEN DECREASING  
TO 9 TO 14 MPH OVERNIGHT SHIFTING TO THE NORTH  
AROUND 8 MPH EARLY IN THE MORNING.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......500 FT AGL.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....FAIR (15300 KNOT-FT) EARLY IN THE EVENING  
DECREASING TO POOR (5900 KNOT-FT) LATE IN THE  
NIGHT.  
 
TIME (CST) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM  
SKY (%).........24 21 17 14 12 12 16 27 23 28 33 43  
WEATHER COV.....  
WEATHER TYPE....  
TEMP............59 56 52 49 47 44 42 39 37 35 33 32  
RH..............34 43 54 58 62 66 71 73 76 78 81 80  
20 FT WIND DIR..240 270 290 300 300 320 320 330 330 330 340 000  
20 FT WIND SPD..17 15 14 12 12 10 10 9 8 7 7 6  
20 FT WIND GUST.26 23 22 20 20 18 17 15 14 13 12 12  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.9 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.0 0.8  
TRANSP WIND DIR.240 270 290 300 300 320 320 330 330 330 340 000  
TRANSP WIND SPD.21 22 22 20 20 16 16 14 13 10 9 8  
CHC OF PCPN (%).0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
VRATE KT-FT/1K..15 14 12 8 12 12 14 14 13 12 8 6  
   
SATURDAY  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........PARTLY CLOUDY THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY.  
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON.  
TEMPERATURE.........MAX 41.  
RH..................MIN 48 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........NORTHEAST WINDS 6 TO 9 MPH INCREASING TO AROUND  
10 MPH LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.  
CHANCE OF PCPN......20 PERCENT.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....NORTHEAST 7 TO 12 MPH INCREASING TO 15 TO 16  
MPH LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......2800 FT AGL.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....POOR (4700 KNOT-FT) EARLY IN THE MORNING  
INCREASING TO FAIR (29100 KNOT-FT) IN THE  
AFTERNOON.  
 
TIME (CST) 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM  
SKY (%).........47 45 59 73 76 79 82 83 84 85 83 80  
WEATHER COV..... SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH  
WEATHER TYPE.... SN SN SN SN SN SN  
TEMP............31 31 33 37 39 40 41 41 41 39 37 34  
RH..............78 76 65 54 49 48 48 48 50 53 58 66  
20 FT WIND DIR..010 010 010 030 030 040 040 040 040 040 040 030  
20 FT WIND SPD..6 7 7 6 7 8 8 9 10 12 12 12  
20 FT WIND GUST.13 13 14 14 15 16 17 18 20 20 20 18  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.8 2.6 2.3 2.1 1.9  
TRANSP WIND DIR.010 010 010 030 030 040 040 040 040 040 040 030  
TRANSP WIND SPD.9 9 9 9 7 9 12 9 12 15 16 16  
CHC OF PCPN (%).10 10 10 10 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 20  
VRATE KT-FT/1K..5 7 10 12 11 17 23 22 25 29 29 28  
 
 
FORECASTER...PETR  
REQUESTED BY...HANNAH WISSMILLER  
TYPE OF REQUEST...PRESCRIBED  
.TAG 2604099.1/LOT  
.DELDT 02/27/26  
.FORMATTERVERSION 2.0.0  
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