Briefly warmer early this week ahead of lengthy, potentially bitter chill

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - It’s been a rather chilly, but not brutally cold weekend in the Stateline, but milder conditions are on the horizon, albeit briefly, as the upcoming week begins.

Though the area saw a brief burst of snow Sunday afternoon, it hardly amounted to anything, continuing a frustrating trend for snow lovers this winter. Thus far, the Stateline’s seen less than half of its normal snowfall for the season, and the gap’s likely to widen in what’s to be another uneventful week, at least in the precipitation department.

In the temperature department, though, it’ll be anything but uneventful.

In the short term, we head back close to normal Monday as early cloudiness gives way to sunshine during the latter stages of the game.

Skies are to cloud over once again Monday night and will stick around through most, if not all of the day Tuesday. There will be, however, a substantial wind shift to the south, which will allow our temperatures to surge rapidly into the upper 30s to near 40° before another cold front approaches from the northwest, eventually passing through late Tuesday night.

An impressive dump of cold air quickly barrels southward from midweek on. Temperatures are likely to fall below 0° as early as Wednesday night, and Thursday may very well see temperatures stay in the single digits throughout.

Unlike previous arctic surges, this one may have more staying power, if current model guidance proves accurate. There remain strong signals that suggest that below normal temperatures are, in all likelihood, to take us through the remainder of January.

Could that mean that, at long last, we may finally be headed for a more snowy pattern? Unfortunately, for snow enthusiasts, the answer appears to be no. Overall, it appears quite likely that drier to much drier than normal conditions are expected to continue over the next two weeks.

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