Heat and heavy rains Wednesday; cooler temp pattern ahead

by: Tom Skilling, WGN Weather Team

Posted: Jul 5, 2023 / 11:38 PM CDT

Updated: Jul 6, 2023 / 06:38 AM CDT

Wednesday’s atmosphere LOADED with moisture—dew points surging into the mid 70s in many locations and the moisture heated by the day’s 90 degree+ temps bubbled up into scattered t-storms ahead of the more extensive storms that swept into many areas that brought torrential downpours in select harder hit locations.

High temps Wednesday surged as high as 96 at Carpentersville and 95 at Barrington. Heat indices reached over 100 at a number of locations.

HEAT RELIEF IS COMING. Temps Thursday may make it to 81 degrees—but a NE wind flow takes hold as the day proceeds. This will lower lakeshore temps to the 60s in the afternoon. A COOLER THAN NORMAL PATTERN takes up residence in coming days—but NOT drastically so. We’ll not be dealing with soaring heat in any time soon.

Feeding on Wednesday’s humid, energy rich air, thunderstorms are shown erupting in this dramatic high resolution GOES EAST weather satellite imagery. (This satellite animation runs from noon to 8pm Wednesday.)

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A big solar flare occurred this past Sunday, July 2. It’s earthbound energy (i.e. plasma), carried by the “solar winds”, can excite auroral displays and produce what are known as GEOMAGNETIC STORMS. The most powerful geomagnetic storms can produce power grid failures, disrupt communications and impact satellites in orbit around Earth and threaten astronauts in space.

Read About Geomagnetic Storms: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is monitoring the “solar winds” which can move at speeds of one million miles per hour. Data from the probe is helping scientist better understand solar flares and the solar winds. READ MORE HERE: https://scitechdaily.com/parker-solar-probe-finds…/…

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