National Weather Service

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through Wednesday (1/25) for most of northern Illinois, with some areas getting over half a foot of accumulation.

It's not like we didn't know the wind was coming, but when it did show up on Thursday a few hours after a wind advisory was put into effect, it was surprisingly strong for Northern Illinois, even in April.

Assuming the clouds give way and give us some clear skies, we should not only get a look at the Aurora Borealis tonight (Thursday) in the Rockford area, but also Friday night, too.

It was only a week ago Wednesday that we Northern Illinois residents were flung headlong into the deep-freeze, with area temperatures dipping as low as -23 in places like Rochelle, while Rockford hit -19.

I don't know about you, but Thursday's temperature of 33 degrees made it feel to me like we'd hit the first day of Spring. Especially since many of us were shocked by the crazy cold temperatures we got on Wednesday.

I think it's fair to assume that most of us are really tired of this incredibly frigid weather we've been enduring off and on for nearly two weeks.

I think it's fair to assume that most of us are really tired of this incredibly frigid weather we've been enduring off and on for nearly two weeks.

You've no doubt noticed that it's hot and getting hotter in and around the Rockford area, but how hot do we need to get to tie or break the record that was set in Rockford in 1936?

Hurricane Florence is a monster-sized storm. Winds in excess of 130 miles per hour and catastrophic flood potential. This photo overlay show her incredible size.