Northern Illinois has a good chance to avoid the threats of damaging winds and massive rains from Superstorm Sandy. That's the conclusion of NIU meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste, who's been tracking the storm on the east coast. He says Sandy's counter-clockwise flow is pulling warm moist air off the Gulf Stream into the northeastern U.S., but here the winds will be more northerly:
"And that will basically bring an air mass down from southern Canada, which is chilly but also very dry." - Gilbert Sebenste
Sebenste expects gusty winds up to 40 miles per hour today. Other than that, he says, Sandy will not affect the weather here.
Still, the National Weather Service has issued a lakeshore flood warning in Chicago for Lake Michigan from 1 a.m. Tuesday through 4 p.m. Wednesday. Officials will also close the Ferris wheel Tuesday at Navy Pier due to potential winds.
