Sun’s first appearance of 2023 possible Monday

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - To say we’ve been stuck in a rut when it comes to the cloudy pattern we’ve endured would be a tremendous understatement.

With another day of cloudiness from start to finish Sunday, we’ve gone without ANY sunshine for every one of 2023′s first eight days, and you’d have to go all the way back to Christmas Day to find a day to feature more sunshine than clouds.

2023 has started off with eight straight completely cloudy days.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

But, at long last, Monday may very well be the day sunshine makes its triumphant return, at least in partial form. Fog’s to greet us in many spots early on in the day Monday, though the expectation is that some mixed sunshine is to emerge by mid to late morning. Temperatures are to top out in the lower 40s thanks to that mixed sunshine and a pleasant southerly breeze.

Monday may very well be the day that sunshine appears for the first time in 2023.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Sun’s not to be around very long, though. In fact, clouds are to return overnight Monday into early Tuesday, and cloudiness remains socked in for most, if not all of our Tuesday. Temperatures, however, should remain on the pleasant side, once again reaching the lower 40s.

Clouds are ticketed to return to the area on Tuesday.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

The other noticeable trend so far this winter has been the overall lack of snow. Thus far, we’ve only managed to pick up just over a half foot of snowfall. Normally, we’d expect 14.5″ to have fallen by Sunday’s date. Aside from a small chance for light snow Thursday, snow chances are virtually non-existent over the next ten days.

We're now running more than eight inches below normal in the snowfall department as of Sunday.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Once sunshine does eventually return, and there’s reason to believe there are to be a few rather sunny days over the coming week, we’ll surely be enjoying it longer. The sun’s already setting 18 minutes later than it did a month ago, and in the coming week, we’re to add between one minute, 15 seconds and one minute, 35 seconds per day, and in just 16 days, we’ll witness our first 5:00pm sunset of 2023.