Chicago weather: Drying out today before extreme weekend heat hits

Chicago weather: Thursday morning forecast

FOX 32's Mike Caplan breaks down today's weather outlook.

CHICAGO - Severe thunderstorm reports were confined to areas well southeast of Chicago yesterday. 

Northwest Indiana, particularly sections of Jasper, southern Porter and LaPorte counties were most notably hit with wind damage. Heavy rainfall ended up being the star of the show. Some parts of Chicagoland picked up nearly 3 inches of rainfall leading to some localized flooding. 

The overall range of rainfall tapered off to closer to a half inch of rain in parts of our northern viewing area. O’Hare picked up a daily record rainfall for June 18 of 1.86 inches. 

Chicago weather forecast

What we know:

Today there can be some showers in the area this morning, but a drying trend is expected with skies becoming at least partly sunny. That should allow high temperatures to reach the low 80s. Tonight should be clear to partly cloudy with lows in the 60s.

Tomorrow we will be on the edge of the intense heat dome that will dominate our weather into next week. Highs reach the mid to upper 80s with the main complicating factor being the possibility of a decaying area of showers and thunderstorms moving in from the north. 

What's next:

Starting this weekend, it’s all about the heat. As of this writing, there are no advisories, watches or warnings for the heat and humidity, but I expect that to change. Highs will be in the mid to upper 90s with enough humidity to push the heat index well above 100°.

The next chance of rain would arrive late in the day Tuesday on a so-called cold front. That will briefly knock the temperatures back into the 80s on Wednesday. 

The Summer Solstice marking the start of "Astronomical Summer" (not to be referred to as the "official" start of summer) takes place at 9:42 p.m. tomorrow night.