WRINGING OUT THE ATMOSPHERE.

Thursday, it was the State Line's turn for heavy rain and flash flooding.  Rockford and Belvidere got the brunt of it.

Unattributed WIFR photograph, somewhere on the east side of Rockford.

Today was supposed to be the Alpine Kiwanis Brat Days, a fund-raiser that sometimes features the Johnsonville Monster Grill, with drive-through and eat-outside options at the Cherry Valley Mall and a Love's Park Farm and Fleet.  The weather gods had other plans.

“With the structure damage, the tent damage, tents that have been blown all over across Riverside and in other businesses’ yards and on the roads. We are unfortunately going to have to cancel this event,” said Karen Tilly with the Alpine Kiwanis Club.

Tilly also notes the group has to cancel the event for the health and safety of the community.

She tells WIFR she was setting up at the Brat Day’s space at the Blains Farm and Fleet in Loves Park when the extreme winds, rain and hail hit.

“At one point, everything was blowing; the tent blew into my car, and then the porta potty actually hit my car,” explained Tilly.

Both Tilly and Kathy Vigna with Alpine Kiwanis Brat Days say it’s with heavy hearts they have to cancel the event, but call on registered volunteers for support.

“If you’re around, if you could go to one of the two sights and help us clean up, that would be super,” said Vigna. “This is the first time in 54 years that this has happened to us. We’re pretty sad about it.”

But they urge volunteers to be cautious because the tent structures at both locations are not safe.

Tilly says they hope insurance will get there early enough to determine it is safe enough. They hope to start cleaning up somewhere around 9 a.m. Friday.

A decision to reschedule will be made in the near future, according to the organization.

We'll follow up with news of a rescheduled event, should that be the case.  Because high summer is short and the inclement season formerly known as winter running long, there are lots of competing events this time of year.

The weather forecast for Friday might be for the atmosphere saturating again.

Friday’s forecasts has multiple scenarios that could play out. The first is that showers continue from the overnight into the late morning/ early afternoon. If this plays out, the atmosphere would be overworked and nothing in the afternoon would materialize other than highs in the lower 90s with heat index values in the mid-90s.

As of eight this morning, there's a break in the rain in DeKalb, with temperatures in the seventies (twenties, for you Jacobins) and humidity crowding 100%.  Radar shows some sort of rain action to the west. That could get interesting.

However, there is another scenario where showers stop early in the morning, we stay dry through the late morning and early afternoon, then a disturbance would reach the stateline. This outcome would generate another round of showers and storms in the late afternoon/early evening and would likely be strong to severe. While wind shear doesn’t look favorable for any tornadoes, hail, wind and heavy rain would be the main focus. We are currently in a slight 2 out of 5 risk for strong to severe storms.

Saturday there is promise of a "cold front" with little difference in temperatures either side of the boundary, but the drier air could again wring out the atmosphere.  "With multiple rounds of rain expected over the next few days, stay weather aware and take flooding/flash flooding warnings seriously."

Despite a few recent rainfalls, the State Line is still, officially, in "abnormally dry" to "moderate drought" conditions, with Kane County recently degraded to "severe drought."  Look for watering restrictions in the westernmost suburbs.

As we upload the post, there are thunderstorms north of the Cheddar Curtain.  Here there was mid-day clearing and the air is stagnant, just the thing to foster thunderstorm formation.