The historic New England blizzard is now a memory with the residents now digging out of local snow amounts of near 3 feet. The storm produced hurricane force winds, the snow of near 3 feet, coastal flooding, and over 1/2 million customers without power at one point. At least 9 deaths have been blamed on the storm. Some of the snow and wind details can be found here and here.
The central US is now in the grips of a new storm system. The graphic shows the very long stretch of precipitation that literally runs the entire width of the country from north to south. Blizzard conditions in the Plains to the northwest of the low pressure center and severe storms with possible tornadoes at the south end toward the Gulf coast. This is the time of the year for the beginning of the new severe weather season in the deep south.
For the Chicago metro area after a nice day Saturday that saw highs above freezing to melt some of our recent snow, today is windy and wet. The good thing about being east of the storm center is again we are receiving much needed rainfall, and temperatures this afternoon will be in the low 40s to melt the existing snow. With our recent rains over the Midwest, only about the north 1/4 of Illinois is still in a long term drought. The drought is over for the rest of the state.
The rain will end rapidly over the metro area from west to east early evening as a cold front moves through. With the air behind the front being modified Pacific air, temperatures the next few days will be a little above normal with highs in the mid to upper 30s. The Wednesday high looks like the low 40s. The normal high is now up to 33. A new blast of colder air will move in Thursday night into next weekend.
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