Bitter chill to dominate in January’s closing days

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - It took awhile, but winter has, at long last, returned to the Stateline in a big way.

While January was uncharacteristically mild and snow-free for nearly four weeks, things have taken a dramatic turn in recent days. With another 0.2″ of snow measured at the Chicago-Rockford International Airport early Sunday morning, snow has now fallen on five straight days.

Snow’s now out of the picture, but much colder air is now moving in, and the coldest temperatures our area has seen since before Christmas are on the way.

In the short term, clouds are to remain intact overnight into early Monday, which will limit the temperature decline a bit. Still, with northwesterly winds blowing at around 10 miles per hour, wind chills are likely to fall slightly below zero by Monday morning.

Clouds are to remain intact early Monday, though there’s to be a quick transition to sunshine by mid to late morning, and the sun will remain dominant for the remainder of the day.

Unfortunately, sunshine’s return won’t do anything to help in the temperature department. Arctic air will continue to make its presence felt thanks to steady northwesterly winds throughout the day. In fact, it’s possible temperatures may fall as the day progresses. Regardless, expect temperatures to get no higher than 10° during the day, with wind chills remaining below zero all day long.

Things appear to get worse before they get better in the temperature department. By early Tuesday morning, temperatures are likely to return to levels not seen since December 23, when we fell all the way down to -10°.

And despite there being more sunshine in store Tuesday, it’ll be another major struggle for temperatures. Coming off such a cold morning low, temperatures are again ticketed for the lower teens, at best, and wind chills may very well remain below zero throughout the day.

Sunshine is to be on display for most, if not all of the week ahead, and temperatures should warm nicely into the 20s by Wednesday and Thursday. A cold front briefly sends another shot of cold air our way Friday, but temperatures are likely heading back into the 30s by the weekend.

Speaking of the sun, not only will we be seeing quite a bit of it this week, we’ll also be enjoying it longer. Monday, we’ll see 9 hours, 55 minutes, and 58 seconds of daylight. A week from Monday, we’ll have 10 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds of daylight. To put it differently, next Monday will feature 16 minutes, 37 seconds more daylight than this Monday.

That may not sound like a big deal, but as days get longer and the sun gets higher in the sky, it serves to soften the blow of any future cold air outbreaks.

Copyright 2023 WIFR. All rights reserved.