Chicago weather: Wettest day of the year prompts flooding concerns
CHICAGO - A Flood Watch is in effect for the Chicago area today from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This is an unusually-wet storm system for winter and with the ground being frozen solid, water has nowhere to go but into runoff. An additional ½ inch to 1 inch will be possible leading to standing water on some roadways and river rises-especially where ice jams may be present.
Local perspective:
After the warmest day of the year yesterday, prepare for the wettest day of the year today.
We open with the Dense Fog advisory until 9 a.m. for the entire Chicago area Visibility at times will drop to less than a quarter mile.
Rainfall will increase during the morning. Right now it appears the favored area for heaviest rainfall will be across the heart of the metro. Up to an inch of additional rainfall is possible, but I think most locations will end up with less than that today on top of what fell last night. Flooding concerns remain on an isolated basis due to the fact that the rain is falling on frozen ground and has nowhere to go but horizontally.
We’ve had our high for the day. It was 40° at midnight. Precipitation should move out of the area shortly after sunset. Skies will remain mostly cloudy overnight with lows in the upper 20s.
The weekend looks quiet with one minor bump in the road. Highs tomorrow will be in the mid to upper 30s under mostly cloudy skies. Somewhere around midnight tomorrow night there’s a chance for a flurry or sprinkle, especially across our northern counties. This will be followed by a big warm-up on Sunday when highs will get into the lower 50s.
Temperatures remain warmer than normal for the first several days next week. It is now looking like 40s are possible much of the time. Next chance of precipitation will be rain on Wednesday.
The Source: The information in this story came from FOX 32 Meteorologist Mike Caplan.