Winds To Be Joined By Dropping Temperatures, Rain, Snow Showers
Updated: 11/11/12 at 4:33 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS)-- Sunday night could be a perfect time to watch a Chicago Bears game ... as long as you're indoors...with power. The Chicago area is under a wind advisory until 8 p.m., with winds as high as around 50 mph being reported around the metropolitan area so far Sunday and the weather is expected to get only more unpleasant later on.
24,000 ComEd customers are already without power due to high winds. Most outages are concentrated in the South Region, south of Chicago to Kankakee.
At the Harrison-Dever crib on Lake Michigan, 51 mph winds were reported at 11:45 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. On land, high winds were reported Sunday in Palatine, where a 48 mph wind was recorded at noon, Joliet, where a 46 mph wind was recorded at 11 a.m., and northwest suburban Harwood Heights, where a 45 mph wind was recorded at 12:49 p.m. At Midway Airport, a 41 mph wind gust was recorded at 11:44 a.m., according to the weather service.
Residents of the area, including those headed to Soldier Field Sunday night, should expect to deal with these high winds for the rest of the day and into the evening. The weather service has issued a wind advisory, in effect until 8 p.m. Sunday for Chicago, the surrounding suburbs and northwest Indiana.
Sustained winds of 30 to 39 miles per hour and gusts up to 57 miles per hour are likely throughout the day. The strong winds could result in damage like downed tree limbs and power lines. Even Sunday evening wind gusts could be as high as 45 mph.
Driving may be difficult, especially on east to west highways, the weather service said. Motorists are advised to be alert and use caution.
A cold front will arrive early Sunday evening, making the day even more interesting weatherwise. Temperatures could drop more than 30 degrees, and with the drop in temperatures will come rain, possibly mixed with snow showers and sleet, the weather service said.
As of about 1 p.m. the temperature in Chicago was 68 degrees. By Sunday night the temperature was expected to drop sharply, to the mid-30s, and it will remain windy, as rain and snow showers fall. The snow is not expected to accumulate.
Once the temperatures drop, they'll stay there for a couple days, according to the weather service.
Monday was expected to be blustery and colder, with temperatures in the mid-30s and snow flurries during the day and lows in the upper 20s at night. Tuesday and Wednesday, high temperatures were expected to be in the mid- to upper-40s.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
