Tim Joyce

NEXT 24 HOURS & 7 DAY OUTLOOK: We had a taste of May at the end of March in Chicagoland-- and now we're getting a dose of March weather to begin May. Gotta love a Midwest spring!

Let's focus on the good news. The clouds and cooler temps keep severe weather away-- so a few showers-- but no torrential rainfall to send our rivers back above their banks. And there are improvements to our temps-- and just when a lot of us would like them: the weekend. And the showers we'll see on Thu/Fri are what I call "solar powered showers" so they bubble up each afternoon-- and they're mostly passing quick showers for the most part. Though Thursday's showers do look a little more widespread. Also, May 1st is the halfway point of spring-- so summer is around the corner, even if it doesn't quite feel like it.

Now for the not so good news, and I'm looking at you gardeners and farmers. May frost can happen here-- but it's relatively rare-- so watch out for Friday morning and Saturday mornings for the coldest temps. Sensitive plants should be covered and/or brought back inside.

Next week looks way more seasonal-- highs in the mid to low 60s and low temps in the 40s. Some forecast models are trying to push in some 70s-- but I don't want to get anyone too excited just yet.

updates our forecast coming up on the tomorrow for the whooooole 6 hours tomorrow, starting at 4a. I'm back this weekend for the Morning News. On the weekends, we start things up at 7a. Hope to see you then!

7 DAY OUTLOOK: Today a huge temp difference between warmest (71 in Streator) and coolest (46 in Kenosha & other lakeside locales). We'll see this again tomorrow-- but temps a bit warmer and likely a bit less of the drizzle and fog.

Milder still for Monday with a chance of strong to severe t'storms developing in the afternoon and evening. At this point we look to see two waves of the storms. One mid to late afternoon and a second line of storms closer to 8p. All hazards are possible.

The rest of April looks much much calmer- though the price tag appears to be slightly cooler than average temps that will struggle to get to near 60-- especially by the lake. I'll be updating that forecast coming up on the WGN Morning News starting tomorrow @ 7a.