After a wet spell, Chicago is heading into Friday with rain tapering off around sunrise, clearing skies and a brisk north wind. Sunshine is expected for much of the afternoon, with a high near 62 degrees; the wind may reach 10 to 15 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph, and temperatures could slip back into the upper 50s later.
Clear Friday, cool night
Friday night is forecast to be mostly clear, with a low near 50 in the city and northeast winds of 5 to 10 mph. Colder locations beyond the urban core could fall into the 40s, with a few upper-30s readings possible in typically colder outlying areas.
The forecast then turns sunnier and warmer: Saturday’s high is expected to be near 64, followed by about 68 Sunday. Monday is forecast to be sunny near 60; temperatures then rebound into the low 60s Tuesday and upper 60s Wednesday, approaching 70 Thursday. No watches or warnings are listed for the city forecast. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for nearshore waters through early Saturday.
A wet spell in a broader rainfall context
The rain comes against a backdrop of wetter long-term records, but those records cannot explain this particular spell. The Illinois State Climatologist Office says data from three selected Chicago-area stations suggest the region has gotten wetter over time. Separately, the Fifth National Climate Assessment reports that annual precipitation across much of the Midwest increased by 5%–15% in 1992–2021 compared with the 1901–1960 average. These are regional, long-term findings; they do not establish the cause or severity of the current Chicago rain.
A past storm offers a comparison of possible regional impacts, not evidence of what happened this week. The National Weather Service Chicago says a separate system on October 24–25, 2021 brought widespread heavy rain and minor flooding across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, including lakeshore flooding. The forecast information here gives no rainfall total or reported flood impacts for the current event, so the earlier storm should not be read as a measure of this one.
There is also relevant city infrastructure context, though no evidence of a system problem in this event: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes Metropolitan Water Reclamation District collection systems serving Chicago and 51 other communities with combined sewer systems that also have combined sewer overflows. That description does not show that an overflow occurred during this rain.
For now, the forecast points to mostly dry weather and sunshine through next week away from the lakefront. Boaters should account for the nearshore advisory as they plan for the clear but breezy conditions.
