Two separate waves of heavy rain drenched the Chicago area Wednesday–the latter embedded within an eye-catching, southbound shelf cloud. The ominous roll-shaped, wind-tossed bank of clouds developed as winds shifted northeast tapping chilly air to the north and sending temperatures into a 20-degree dive in less than three hours. This month’s opening seven days had produced 2.04 inches of rain even before Wednesday’s downpours arrived–the 11th wettest May opening of the last 138 years.
Area rain totals by day’s end were impressive and included: 1.34 inches in Wilmette, 1.17 inches in Palatine, 1.08 inches at Chicago’s Whitney Young High School and 1.05 inches at Mt. Prospect. In the city, 0.76 of an inch fell at O’Hare International Airport and 0.57 of an inch at Midway Airport. The “normal” full May rainfall tally is 3.38 inches.
SECOND STORM TARGETS AREAS DOWNSTATE WITH A THURSDAY DELUGE
An unusually active pattern is taking shape–one likely to send a series of storms across the Midwest over the coming two weeks. A powerful system–responsible for Thursday’s gusty, cool northeast winds in Chicago–wallops areas Downstate with downpours.
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Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon, 5:55 p.m. and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
IN THE WEB EDITION: For updated weather news, forecasts by ZIP code and local radar images, go to chicagotribune.com/weather or wgntv.com
