Low Pressure Equal to Cat 2 Hurricane Over Illinois this Week?

Let me be clear from the beginning that a hurricane will NOT impact Illinois this week. However, a weather variable that is very close to what systems that power hurricanes is expected over the Land of Lincoln soon.

I saw this interesting share by the Illinois Weather Community on Facebook Meta yesterday. It shows a massive low pressure area that is expected to situate itself over Illinois sometime between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

979 millibars is what you would expect to see in a tropical system powering a category 2 hurricane. Yikes.

Now, for some good news. There will NOT be a category 2 hurricane over Illinois when that system passes over the state, but it will be extremely windy and there is a definite potential for severe storm development including hail, significant tornadoes and everything else you associate with a bad storm. The chance is higher in southern Illinois than any other place in the state, but explosive development is possible.

Before you go heading into the storm shelter, know that even the National Weather Service doesn't know exactly how volatile this incoming storm system will be. If it's very cloudy early Tuesday, that could dampen the energy that system will need to produce supercells. It's also possible that dry air could lessen the severity of storms. We simply don't know exactly what Tuesday and Wednesday storms will be like, but that low pressure is capable of very strong storms. Be prepared and hope for the best.