DANGEROUS heat continues for all portions in the Stateline. Current temperatures as of 1:00pm Wednesday afternoon are already pushing the mid to upper 90s in Monroe, Janesville, Rockford, Savanna and Sterling. Galena, Freeport, Rochelle, and DeKalb are in the lower 90s. Heat index values are pushing above 110 in all areas except Monroe and DeKalb. Be very, very careful outside today if you have to be out. Be sure to stay hydrated, drinking plenty of water and electrolytes and limiting caffeine and alcohol intake. Take frequent breaks in the shade or better yet, air conditioning. Check on loved ones, elderly, children, and especially those without air conditioning. Also do not leave children or pets in unattended vehicles.

Our dew points across the Stateline are much higher than most areas across Florida this afternoon. According to National Weather Service records dating back to 1951, there have only been 17 days, including today, that Rockford has reached a dew point temperature of 80 plus degrees. Besides today, the most recent two were July 28, 2023, and July 19, 2019.

There are two scenarios we are watching for Thursday. If we have a slower moving cold front, which appears to be more likely than not, this will limit storm chances and allow higher heat index values to expand further across the Stateline. If we have a faster front, storm chances would increase slightly, and we would not see as intense of heat indices. Though it is still possible we see a few storms develop with the main front to our northwest. Northern Illinois was placed under a marginal, lower level, risk Thursday. Our main threats would be strong winds and hail.

An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING remains in place Wednesday and Thursday. This is set to expire at 8pm Thursday for northern Illinois and 7pm Thursday for southern Wisconsin. Extremely dangerous heat index values and temperatures will be in place, even overnight temperatures will stay near 80.

Though the next few days are still going to stay hot, there is relief underway as we head into the weekend. By Saturday and Sunday temperatures will cool down significantly and we will even see below normal temperatures. This weekend we will be in the upper 70s, then early next week into the lower 80s, near normal.