Weather officials warned of very dry and windy conditions Wednesday afternoon hours after “dusty rain” from overnight showers left mud splatters on cars parked outside across the Chicago region.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a red flag warning, meaning that as the afternoon moved forward conditions would be very dry and windy, making the area ripe for brush fire spread. The combination of warm, dry and windy was expected to cause fine fuels to dry up by early afternoon, weather service officials said.
The warning included Cook, DuPage, Will, Kankakee and Lake counties until 8 p.m.
Southwest winds were forecast to blow between 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, officials said. With humidity as low as 20%, any fire that develops can spread quickly so outdoor burning is not recommended.
Earlier, showers that began Tuesday night left 0.05 to 0.15 inches of rain across northeastern Illinois. The raindrops were embedded with dust from extensive blowing dust and wildfire smoke and ash from strong winds and extreme fire conditions in the central and southern plains, weather officials said.
“(T)he result being ‘dusty rain’ and needing a trip to the car wash,” the National Weather Service in Chicago said on X.
While high temperatures were expected to reach the low 60s on Wednesday, overnight temperatures are expected in the low 40s.
