Coldest air of the season visits the Stateline by week’s end

• Check the 13 Weather Authority forecast
• Interactive Radar
• Alert Room
• Map Room
• Sign-up for daily news and weather emails

ROCKFORD (WREX) — A surge of seasonably warm temperatures is underway, but a potent cold front is soon to come.

"Mild", breezy Thursday:

The "gateway to the weekend" is here and with it comes continued sunshine and relatively warm temperatures. A stout southwesterly and westerly wind has pushed in much warmer weather for the start of Thursday. A solid warm-up of 20° to 30° has brought temperatures to get Thursday started in the low-to-mid-30s.

Highs later in the day make a solid run at 40° thanks to sunny skies and westerly breezes. Don't let mild temperatures fool you, because wind chills are still going to play a role in the forecast. Gusts could approach 30 miles per hour at times, making for wind chills in the teens and twenties at times.

Cold weather soon to come:

A potent cold front pushes through the Upper Midwest late Thursday evening. This cold front comes through with scant moisture, however a flurry or light snow shower or two cannot be ruled out. The more important weather headline of this cold frontal passage is the biting cold that moves in behind it.

Friday morning features temperatures in the teens, with wind chills likely to be in the single digits below zero. The afternoon doesn't feature much of a reprieve from cold weather. Highs top out in the teens to near 20° with wind continuing to add insult to injury.

Low temperatures Friday night into Saturday drop into the single digits, with outlying areas likely dropping below zero. Wind chills early Saturday are going to be below zero.

Weekend snow chances:

The upcoming weekend looks split down the middle, with dry conditions holding on through most of Saturday. Clouds increase through the afternoon, with mostly cloudy skies likely by sunset.

Dry conditions yield to snow chances overnight Saturday into Sunday. There are key differences between models at this point. One model shows a generally snowy scene Sunday, with accumulating snow ending by Monday. Another global model depicts one round of snow on Sunday and a wallop of a snowy blast by Monday.

A lot of uncertainty remains in this forecast, so prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Keep it here on 13 WREX for the updates as we work to fine-tune the forecast in the coming days.