Temperatures are forecast to dip to frosty levels across much of Wisconsin and portions of Illinois and northeastern Missouri Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
If you live in open areas over the suburbs or the countryside from Chicago and Milwaukee to Madison, Wis., and St. Louis and you have tender flowers or vegetable plants, cover them Tuesday evening or risk damage from frost.
Record lows will be challenged Wednesday morning over a large part of the Upper Midwest as an air mass from Canada settles over the region.
Where skies remain clear and wind diminishes away from heat-retaining urban areas, temperatures will dip into the middle 30s to lower 40s.
Official temperature measurements are taken at a height of about 6 feet above the ground. However, temperatures near the ground on grassy surfaces and car tops can be 10 degrees lower. Because cold air is more dense than warmer, surrounding air, it settles and seeks low spots.
Metal and glass surfaces on your vehicle cool very quickly and can become frosty.
Areas right along the lakeshore should have some natural protection from early season frost in situations like this. Since the lake is warm, it modifies the surrounding air and generates a slight breeze, which in turn prevents the cold air from settling near the ground and limits early-season frost and freezing episodes.
Areas under a canopy of trees are somewhat protected from early-season frost events.
In urban neighborhoods, paved and concrete surfaces give off heat at night and generally keep temperatures several degrees higher, even in cool weather situations.
The average date of the first frost in Chicago occurs during the middle of October but has occurred as early as the middle of September.
The same system that spawned deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma will reach the Northeast on Thursday.
With one day remaining before Memorial Day weekend, the Sandy-battered Jersey coastline is hustling to finish last-minute preparations.
The Memorial Day weekend will begin cool, windy and rainy in New England and part of the mid-Atlantic.
Thunderstorms will slow cleanup efforts in Moore, Okla., into the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Join us as we discuss the severe storm threat in the Northeast Thursday and the wet weather lingering into the Memorial Day weekend.
GOES-East failed again late Tuesday. It is one of the main satellites meteorologists use for the eastern part of the United States and the tropical Atlantic.
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | N/A | |
| Low | N/A | |
| Precip | N/A |
Northeast (1989)
More rain in an already wet month. Monthly
totals topped 11 inches at New York City,
9 inches at Bridgeport, CT and 8 inches at
Baltimore (all three records for May).
Pennsylvania (1984)
Over $150,000 damage in Monroe and Pike
counties from a thunderstorm downburst
(originally thought to be tornadoes).
New Hampshire (1814)
Merrimac, Litchfield, Londonderry and
North Chester, NH; Tornado and hailstones
with 11-inch circumference weighing 1/2
pound.
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