It was a hazy day across the Stateline with some wildfire smoke making skies look cloudy during the afternoon. Despite this, we still warmed into the 80s across the board, with even a few spots to the West seeing yet another 90-degree day.

The haze and smoke has been a bit closer to the surface, causing poor air quality in many spots. The majority of Illinois is seeing air quality that is “unhealthy for sensitive groups”.

The haze continues into the night tonight, but temperatures fall a bit quicker down into the mid-50s. Otherwise, we will continue to see partly cloudy skies. A few spots that see more clearing could see temperatures fall into the low 50s.

Tomorrow is another hazy but sunny day with highs in the mid-80s. Sunshine will be filtered through the haze, but skies should clear up a bit into the evening.

Wildfire smoke from Canada has meandered its way down toward the Midwest over the last few days, giving us hazy skies Sunday and Monday. Some of this smoke has been pulled closer to the surface, leading to the poor air quality. A weak cold front Monday will at least temporarily clear the smoke from the air by Tuesday.

Rain chances move in with the aforementioned cold front. While these chances are not widespread nor heavy, any rain would help to ease our growing precipitation deficit for the year. A few spotty showers are possible Monday night through Tuesday.

The middle of the week features high pressure moving into the area underneath an upper-level blocking pattern. We will be under the influence of an “Omega block”, named a such because of its resemblance to the Greek letter. An upper-level ridge will be sandwiched between two troughs, causing winds to go up and around the ridge, resembling the Greek letter Omega. This blocking pattern will keep our skies clear but also rain free for the middle of the week. Temperatures will be pretty close to normal as we will be under the influence of the Northerly flow from the Eastern edge of the ridge.

Highs this time of year are normally closer to the upper 70s and low 80s. We will be near that mark for the rest of the week after Monday, with a small chance for rain Monday night into Tuesday. High pressure will keep us dry through the end of the week before rain chances return next weekend.