Champaign, Illinois 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

828
FXUS63 KILX 160526 CCA
AFDILX

Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
1226 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- There is a level 4 of 5 (moderate) risk for severe weather
  Friday afternoon and evening south of I-70, and a level 3
  (enhanced) risk further northwest. All severe hazards are in
  play.

- Tomorrow, southwest winds gusting 35-45 mph will combine with
  relative humidity values below 30% to result in increased fire
  danger, mainly north of I-72. These winds will also result in a
  risk for localized blowing dust, which could briefly diminish
  visibility for motorists.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 904 PM CDT Thu May 15 2025

Severe convection that fired along a dryline across the Illinois
River Valley earlier has advanced eastward toward I-57 and
dissipated significantly as of 02z/9pm. One remaining cell over
Vermilion County will drift eastward and push into Indiana prior
to 10pm. The Tornado Watch has been cleared for all locations
along/west of a Bloomington to Taylorville line and the rest of it
may be cancelled prior to 10pm if trends continue. The rest of the
night will be quiet with skies clearing from west to east.
Overnight lows will drop into the upper 50s and lower 60s.

Barnes

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 134 PM CDT Thu May 15 2025

An upper level trough evident in water vapor satellite imagery
across the Northern Plains/Upper Midwest early this afternoon is
slated to drift east-southeast into our area by tomorrow night.
Ahead of that feature, several disturbances will offer central and
southeast IL active weather, while behind it the pattern turns
benign for the upcoming weekend. At some point early next work week,
thunderstorm chances will return with the approach of another
trough lifting out of the Great Plains.

***** SEVERE WEATHER RISK THIS EVENING *****

The most imminent forecast concern is the prospect of severe
weather this evening. Unfortunately, this remains a conditional
risk as a capping inversion continues to prevent the realization
of abundant mid level instability. If and when that cap breaks,
the hellacious severe weather parameter space characterized by
3000-4000 J/kg MLCAPE and 40-50 kt EBWD will prove ample for
explosive convective development, as well as the longevity of
storms that do fire. Given relatively weak forcing along the dry
line (vs the stronger forcing we would expect along a true cold
front) and a large component of the shear oriented normal to that
boundary, we`d expect a discrete storm mode with large to
significant hail being the primary risk; entrainment CAPE, or
ECAPE (a parameter closely tied to potential hail size), values
from RAP/HRRR forecast soundings are in excess of 3000 J/kg across
our eastern counties this evening. Prolific mid level dry air and
PWATs nearing record values will favor efficient evaporational
cooling and hence strong downward momentum in thunderstorm
downdrafts for severe winds as well, with DCAPE values on the
RAP`s most recent mesoanalysis between 1300-1500 J/kg. While LCLs
are higher than ideal for tornadogenesis, increasing the
difficulty for surface convergence to connect to thunderstorm
mesocyclones, we certainly don`t want to downplay that threat
because of the anticipated strength and longevity of those
mesocyclones. Thankfully, the relatively fast storm motion will
confine the risk to just a few hours this evening, with storms
quickly sailing into the Hoosier State; at this time, we`re most
concerned about the 6-10pm timeframe, though again it`s not
entirely plain when the cap will vanish.

***** SEVERE WEATHER RISK FRIDAY AFTERNOON-EVENING *****

After our glancing blow with severe storms this evening, all
attention turns to the set up for tomorrow. Deterministic guidance
is in agreement another shortwave will soar into the Prairie
State during the afternoon, but precisely how far northwest
moisture returns ahead of the attendant incoming dry
line/prefrontal trough will dictate destabilization and hence
storm intensity along that boundary during the afternoon and
evening. The magnitude and northward extent of that moisture
return itself will also be conditional on if/where storms form
this evening, how far south they push the effective boundary, and
whether convection initiates further south during the early
afternoon as a few of the CAMs are indicating. In any case, even
the more bullish guidance suggests instability will be at least
marginally lower tomorrow compared to today, but that comes at the
expense of a weaker cap and slightly stronger forcing for ascent.
Once again, all severe hazards will be in play tomorrow, with
perhaps a higher risk for tornadoes and damaging straight-line
winds given (1) slightly lower LCLs and (2) more mid level dry air
with the encroaching upper trough. The CAMs comprising the 15.12z
HREF seem to be converging on roughly the I-55 corridor for
convective initiation, though there are some discrepancies with
the NAMNest firing storms west of the IL River and the ARW
igniting those updrafts nearer I-57. Storm motion will once again
be quickly towards the northeast, with the convective threat
shifting out of the area after around 8-9pm.

***** GUSTY WINDS TODAY AND ESPECIALLY TOMORROW ****

Outside of thunderstorms, it`ll be seasonably breezy this afternoon
as south winds gust 20-30 mph, sporadically higher especially near/west
of I-55 where deeper mixing and steeper low level lapse rates
will materialize behind a dry line into the early evening.
Tomorrow will be even windier with some potential for gusts to
kiss Wind Advisory criteria (45 mph). Confidence in that is too
low at this point, with Bufkit soundings mixing technique
suggesting a high degree of uncertainty in the depth of mixing,
and also variability between models. In general, top of channel
winds are running around 30-35 kt, though there could be a brief
period where deeper mixing allows us to tap into the 40-45+ kt
winds around 850-900mb during the afternoon-evening. Winds ahead
of the frontal boundary crossing the region will be from the
south-southwest, while behind it they`ll blow from the west. Just
noticing the 10-40% deficit in soil moisture north of roughly I-72
and observed 0.25 2-inch soil moisture (wfv) at SPI, one wonders
whether these winds will result in a risk for blowing dust,
especially (1) if the stronger winds come to fruition and (2) in
the vicinity of any ongoing agricultural activities.

***** DRY AND COOLER OVER THE WEEKEND *****

The upper trough will shift east and surface high pressure build
into the region in its wake Friday night into Saturday, giving us a
dry and seasonably cool weekend with daily highs in the low to mid
70s. The next opportunity for precipitation will arrive Monday into
Tuesday of next week as another system lifts out of the Central
Plains. A lot remains unclear about that system, including its
arrival time and warmth/moisture return ahead of it, which suggests
vast uncertainty surrounding both precipitation amounts and any
severe weather potential.

Bumgardner

&&

.AVIATION...  (For the 06z TAFs through 06z Friday Night)
Issued at 1217 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025

Low pressure will move from the Upper Midwest overnight to the
Great Lakes late Friday as a cold front pushes across central
Illinois Friday evening. Increasingly gusty southerly winds are
expected during the day Friday ahead of the front with gusts
eventually peaking around or above 30 kt Friday afternoon. Storms
are expected to develop overhead mid to late Friday afternoon and
push east across central Illinois through the early evening.
Winds turn west to northwesterly behind the cold front Friday
evening and the chance for precip will diminish behind the front.
Outside of precip, VFR conditions are expected through the period.

Deubelbeiss

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 134 PM CDT Thu May 15 2025

Behind the dry line this afternoon, various high res guidance, most
notably the RAP/HRRR, advertise dewpoints dropping sufficiently to
bring RH values into the 20s mainly west of I-55. Combining this
with southwesterly winds gusting 25-30 mph will increase the risk
for erratic fire behavior, so we`d recommend limiting (or at least
using extra precautions with) any burning activities during the
latter portion of this afternoon into the evening. Tomorrow, the
risk appears to be even higher as the residual dry airmass across
our northwest counties combines with even stronger southerly wind
gusts (35-45 mph) from the late morning into the afternoon. While
confidence was too low to issue on this shift due to model
variability, a Red Flag Watch/Warning may become necessary.

Bumgardner

&&

.CLIMATE...
Issued at 727 PM CDT Wed May 14 2025

Record temperatures for Thursday and Friday:

Location       Thu Record    Thu Record     Fri Record
.                 High        Warm Low         High
=============  ==========    ==========     ==========
Bloomington      94/1894       70/1962        92/1900
Champaign        90/2001       66/1962        92/2001
Charleston       92/2001       69/2013        94/2001
Decatur          94/1894       68/1968        92/2001
Jacksonville     91/2013       68/1962        90/2001
Lincoln          90/1987       65/2013        92/2001
Olney            91/2018       69/1962        91/2001
Peoria           93/1894       68/1894        93/1894
Springfield      91/1962       69/1962        93/2001

Geelhart

&&

.ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

$$