Forecast: Mostly cloudy, hazy; scattered showers, storms possible
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Friday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms during the evening then clouds scatter late. Winds: Northwest shifting north 15-25 mph, subsiding late. Low: 56.
The weekend begins with a few morning clouds, but they will quickly diminish allowing for mostly sunny skies to emerge by afternoon.
It will be a good deal cooler, especially along the lakefront, as cool, Canadian high pressure settles into the area with a north to northeast flow off Lake Michigan where water temperatures remain chilly.
Highs Saturday will hold in the 60s for much of the metro area except far west and southwest suburban areas where peak readings will reach the lower 70s.
Skies will continue to be a bit hazy at times due to Canadian wildfire smoke being directed into the Chicago area.
NOAA-GOES-19 satellite depicts the area of smoke in the lighter gray shading which nearly encompasses all of Minnesota and Iowa.
Dozens of large out-of-control wildfires continue burning across Canada.
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Plenty of sunshine is on tap for Sunday and a return to warmer temperatures, especially inland where highs make a run towards 80-degrees.
The weekend forecast looks quite hot across the West & Northern Plains. Record high temps are expected from Southern California to the Northern Rockies on Saturday. While across the East, a more spring-like temperature regime is in place with high temperatures in the Northeast 10-20 degrees below normal.
A cool start to the weekend across the Chicago area but it won't last long as temperatures rebound quickly by Sunday with a return to summerlike warmth early next week
Summerlike heat that's been dominating the West sends a prod of warmth into the Midwest and Great Lakes early next week with highs 10-20 degrees above normal
Dry weather takes hold for several days before the next chance of showers and thunderstorms arrives late Tuesday into Wednesday as a cold front slides through the area.
Some beneficial rainfall possible for the Chicago area with even heavier totals forecast across the south central Plains
A large portion of the Chicago metro area now sits in 'moderate drought'. The area of moderate drought statewide grew from just over 17% a week ago to nearly 23% in the latest outlook.
May-2025 has been quite dry for much of the state! Many areas have seen less than half of their normal rainfall with 2-4 inch deficits for the month pretty common.
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