Wednesday, October 30, 2013

10/30 IL Migration Report

Most if not all of the noise over IL
right now is storm activity, leaving
little room for the birds.
Hello again,

Let's start by taking a look at the radar. Now let's look at the winds. Hmmm. Powerful southerly winds and storm activity blanketing the state. In about 5 seconds, we see that it's hardly even worth mentioning migration tonight, as winds and weather are so against it that even the craziest birds will probably be earth-bound tonight. So that's that.

Looking forward, the cold front from northwest of us predicted
Tonight's extremely
unfavorable winds.
yesterday is forecast to move into Illinois sometime late tomorrow morning. It will bring west/northwesterly winds, but more importantly will clear out most of tonight's precipitation. So tomorrow night, when winds will be predominantly westerly but with northerly twangs in some places, we will probably see a bit more migration. From there, we will probably see westerly winds remain dominant through Friday, and possibly longer.

Cool. Good luck everybody, and Bon Voyage.

Surface analysis forecast for early tomorrow afternoon.
Notice the cold front sweeping through and pushing the rain
eastward.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

10/29 IL Migration Report

Take special note of the  low pressure system over Kansas right now
Evening friends,

Tonight's continental wind map. The arrow points to the
center of the Low Pressure system to our west. It will be
interesting to watch how it moves from a winds
perspective. Click to watch live.
So as predicted, we find ourselves smack dab in the center of a large area of southerly winds. And we're not talking southerly-ish winds from some weak high pressure that some migrants may still pass through. No, we're right in between a powerful high pressure system to the east (remember winds revolve clockwise around high pressure) and a large low pressure system to the west (remember winds revolve counterclockwise around low pressure). We can even see the center of the low pressure system over Kansas on the Wind Map. So we're getting a double-whammy again--southerly winds caused by high pressure, and southerly winds caused by low pressure. Needless to say, not much if anything is migrating tonight. So let's look forward, shall we?

48-hour forecast. Click to enlarge.
The yellow circle labels the low
pressure system currently over Kansas.
Notice how much it moved. The
blue arrows point out the
widespread precipitation.
Interestingly, the low pressure to our west I mentioned will be moving north and then east along the eastern edge of the Great Plains for the next couple of days. It's the system carrying the warm from the south that will move northward into Illinois tomorrow, bringing stronger southerly winds, lots precipitation, and continuing the migratory shutdown. In 48-hours, the center of this low pressure system will be sitting right over the western tip of Lake Superior, and the above mentioned warm front will be moving through Wisconsin. Widespread precipitation and super-powerful southerly winds will be the star of the show until another front from the low pressure system, this one cold, sweeps the precipitation away from northwest of us. Following it will be weak, northwesterly winds. So we'll see what happens then on Thursday night, but it will probably be an improvement from
This image is really useful: we can see the powerful southerly
winds forecast for IL on Thurs, depicted in yellow and
red, and the weaker NW winds entering the a cold front.
tonight and tomorrow night.

Good stuff all. Have a great night.

Monday, October 28, 2013

10/28 IL Migration Report

Tonight's all-important Surface Analysis
Hey folks!

So tonight, predictions about movements north of the cold front came true, with light to moderate migration over your head depending on where you are. However, there's also a pleasant surprise. Whereas winds were expected to be unfavorable south of today's cold front--now creeping south halfway through IL--winds are actually too weak to deter migration. So there's actually more migration occurring south of the cold front in Southern Illinois then there is north of the front! Fancy that.

Tonight's radar
So tomorrow morning then, expect more arrivals and influxes of more wintery species like American Tree Sparrows, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, diving ducks, grebes, Common Loons, and of course, more gull species. Time to get those old gears turning again!

In the meantime, today's cold front will continue southward until it hits and stalls against a warm front just
The above mentioned warm front, after beating our current
cold front, forecast for 2 days from now.
south of the Prairie State. By tomorrow, the warm front from the south will actually win the standoff, and will make its way northward into our state, driven by low pressure. It will again meet and then beat out another cold front, and will probably make its way north of IL by Thursday. In its wake, we will be experiencing southerly winds (and stronger ones at that) and precipitation. So from here at least until the end of Wednesday, don't expect to many considerable movements.

Cool. Good luck and Bon Voyage!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

10/26 IL Migration Report

Hey everybody,

So with the passage of today's cold front, we are again experiencing favorable migration conditions. And the migrants are taking advantage of it. Moderate to heavy migration is occurring in Illinois (as part of a large patch of such migration over some of the Midwest and the Great Plains) right now, so expect some legitimate arrivals and influxes tomorrow morning. As predicted yesterday, waterbirds will probably be part of this if not a big part. Keep your eyes peeled for arriving diving ducks, grebes, and loons. Also, reports of rarer gulls have been circulating around the state; we are edging closer to the time when scanning through gulls becomes a mainstay of our birding. Also, watch out for birds like Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings, as their numbers will also be increasing. Migrants that we've been seeing will be making their last pushes out, but they will still certainly be part of our lists.
The cold front forecast to bring
favorable northerly winds back into
our state.

Cool. Tonight's conditions will be short-lived, as by tomorrow morning, southerly winds will already be dominating our state. Sunday night will again be pretty dead. But never fear--a large and slow moving cold front is set to move into Illinois from due north of us, so Monday night will probably be witness to some more migration.

Good stuff everybody. Bon voyage.

Friday, October 25, 2013

10/25 IL Migration Report

Literally no migration
Hello again,

A short, late report tonight. As predicted, we are now on the backside of high pressure past east to the south of us, and this means we're experiencing unfavorable southerly winds. And as reflected by radar, pretty much nothing is migrating tonight.

But that also means were closer to tomorrow night's favorable conditions. Forecasts continue to show the passage of favorable north/northwesterly winds into our state by early tomorrow night, so expect some heavier movements then. These favorable conditions will dissipate into unfavorable southerly winds again by Sunday night, so make the best of any arrivals and influxes on Sunday morning. Especially keep an
High pressure shuts down migration as it leaves; low
pressure will bring up migration as it arrives.
eye out for raptors, waterbirds, and open country birds like Lapland Longspurs, American Tree Sparrows, and Horned Larks.

Good stuff. Happy trails all.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

10/24 IL Migration Report

Hiya folks,

So I guess we'll start with the radar tonight. Blue, dark blue, and a bit of green indicate light to moderate migration, so tomorrow may be witness to influxes of juncos, Snow Buntings, various waterbirds, etc. 

But it gets more interesting than that. You see, winds tonight are northwesterly , which are highly favorable for southbound migration. We would expect--although it may be a little late for this expectation to begin with--heavy migration tonight, indicated by giant green spheroids on the radar. There are two reasons for this. The first is pretty simple: we're running out of migrants. The bulk of "Fall" migration will be fizzling out into December when southbound migration in the States could be said to be finished. 

The second reason is a little more interesting. Check out the surface analysis. We see a bunch of big H's. This means giant air cells of high pressure are oozing their way into our airspace. Though they may be bringing favorable winds, these, as mentioned before, are truly harbingers of winter at this time of year. They bring cold, harsh air without much lifting capacity to get birds going, and create conditions aloft that birds, especially at this time of year, seem to shy away from migrating in as much as they could be. Hawkwatchers especially will pick up on this, as raptor migration is practically shut down with conditions like these.

So that's that about that. These high pressure systems will take their sweet time in passing by us, and
Winds predicted for going into
Saturday night
then will be off east of us by Saturday. We will experience southerly flow tomorrow as we end up on the backside of the high pressure, whose winds revolve clockwise around it. But by Saturday night, Low Pressure System-driven fronts (both warm and cold), are set to pass through the Prairie State, bringing favorable northwesterly winds with it. So if I were to make any predictions on when to expect the most arrivals and influxes, I would put my money on Sunday morning.

Cool. Good luck everyone, and Bon Voyage.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

10/22 IL Migration Report

Tonight's favorable winds. Click to
watch live.
Hey folks,

Conditions are pretty good over Illinois tonight; if we were to look alone at the winds over the Prairie State, we would think that there should be explosive movements over our heads right now. Fortunately or unfortunately, this isn't the case. Winter is slowly but surely creeping its way into our state, and with it comes many bouts of precipitation and areas of low visibility. Wherever these conditions exist in IL, a damper will be put on the birds in the air there. This could be what explains the strange paucity of any sort of color from the Central IL station, or the radar there could temporarily be disabled. If the former is the case, large areas of low visibility and precipitation should continue to keep birds down. If the latter is the case, Illinois is experiencing moderate migration right now. It's hard to tell which.
And yet...a strange lack of birds
in much of the state.

Regardless, keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for any arrivals
and influxes tomorrow. The latest BirdCast gives a handful of birds as a sampling of what's to come: Brant, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Black and White-winged Scoters, Hooded Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, American Tree Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and Snow Bunting.

Cool. Looking forward with our trusty Wind Forecast, favorable north/northwesterly winds are forecast to continue for the next few days. This is many migrants best chance to escape the oncoming cold, so definitely expect them to use it. And things are looking very good for you hawkwatchers too. Although it's hard to top Swainson's Hawk and Golden Eagle IN ONE DAY, it will be interesting to see what pops up, and in what numbers.

Good stuff everyone. Bon voyage and happy trails.

Monday, October 21, 2013

10/21 IL Migration Report

BOOM! IL gets heavy migration to the
exclusion of almost every other state.
Hey everybody!

So lucky for us, Illinois is about the only state in the country covered by heavy migration right now. The cold front I mentioned a couple of days ago came through in the past few hours, and left us with weak yet northerly winds. These conditions along with the decreasing temperatures continue to spur migrants south of us. Everything from thrushes to sparrows should be making their final movements south of us providing that they're not winter residents, and more wintery species should be arriving in decent numbers some time soon. This means birders should keep an eye out for incoming diving ducks, any gulls of interest, increases in Junco numbers, and perhaps the first American Tree Sparrows. Also keep your eyes peeled for the first arriving Northern Shrikes and Snow Buntings. Predict what you'll be finding here: http://bit.ly/17nhLgM

Regardless, the radar's really glowing tonight. Somewhere around 1,000 birds are migrating per square kilometer over Illinois, so expect your local patch to be hoppin' tomorrow.

Looking into tomorrow and beyond, it appears that winds will become southerly and unfavorable tomorrow,
Winds forecast for tomorrow night
but never fear; winds are forecast to again be northerly by Tuesday night. From there, winds are forecast to remain northwesterly at least into Wednesday night.

Good stuff, folks. Happy birdings.

That cold front, now just leaving IL, left us with very favorable conditions for migration.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

10/19 IL Migration Report

Hey everybody,

Unfortunately, we have a very short story for tonight. Strong southerly winds are dominant in our state right now, and as such almost nothing is migrating over us right now. So that's that.

Winds forecast for when the cold
front moves into IL
Looking ahead, a cold front from northwest of us is forecast to move into the state a little after midnight tomorrow night, which will bring highly favorable conditions. Depending on how quickly it moves, Northwestern or even much of Northern IL may experience moderate to heavy migration at some point tomorrow night. Northwest winds are forecast to persist at least into Monday night, so we may see some considerable
migration then.

Good stuff. Bon voyage, everyone.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

10/17 (and some 10/18) IL Migration Report

Hey all,

So just a heads up, I won't be able to do any reporting tomorrow night, so I will be reporting on tonight and tomorrow night now.

Anyway, the tables have turned from yesterday. Winds are still splitting the state in half, but this time the weak, undirected winds providing little headwind are in the Northern half of the state, whereas stronger, unfavorable southerly winds are present over the Southern half of the state. This means that tonight, migration will be light to moderate in Northern IL, whereas it will be almost nonexistent in Southerly IL. Make any predictions as to what you may find out there here.

Tomorrow, we while again hail the arrival of another front carrying
Super-weak winds in N. IL as of
11:03 PM Central
westerly winds, and for a time these will be northwesterly in most of the state. However, by tomorrow night when most passerines are migrating, winds will only be northwesterly in the southerly half of the state. Expect some light migration in the northern half, and more moderate movements in the southern half.

Looking further in the Wind Forecast, after a Saturday of strong southwesterly winds, winds will become northwesterly in Northern IL, and should facilitate some movement there Saturday night.

Lots of state splitting from a winds perspective.

That's all for tonight, folks. Good luck and bon voyage.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

10/16 IL Migration Report

The clear division of heavier
vs. lighter migration in
Southern and Northern IL,
respectively.
Hey folks,

Tonight, an occurrence that popped up much more during this year's spring migration has again reared its ugly head. Winds have been divided fairly clearly between the northern and the southern halves of the state, with winds mostly westerly in the north, and northwesterly in the south. So right now, looking at the radar, we see that northern IL is experiencing light migration, while southern IL is experiencing moderate to heavy migration. So if you're in this southern half of the state, you may wake up to some nice arrivals and influxes. Make predictions as to what you'll find here.

Looking at the wind forecast, overall we see nothing but continued westerly and southwesterly winds at least through Friday, so don't expect any huge arrivals at least through then.

And that's all for tonight folks. Happy Trails.

Monday, October 14, 2013

10/14 IL Migration Report

UPDATE: High Pressure System moves east; storm front over Great Plains
bring Westerly winds in our direction.
Evening folks,

Tonight is witness to the slow eastward passage of yesterday's high pressure, placing us in the influence of southeasterly winds. As a result of this unfavorable wind direction, movements are relatively paltry over IL right now, with light migration at best in northeastern and Southernmost IL. So, don't expect any huge changes in tomorrow's avifauna.

Looking forward a couple days then, it seems that along with a large storm front, westerly to northwesterly winds will again find their way into IL by tomorrow night. Luckily for us, it seems that we only have a couple days' hiatus from substantial migration.

Awesome. Have a great night all.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

10/13 IL Migration Report

That big H over Wisconsin is a harbinger of colder times to come.
Hello again,

So tonight we hail the arrival of a continental-polar high pressure system, oozing into the Midwest from the North, bringing its frosty air and oh-so-confused and weak winds. These winds, providing little in the way of headwinds, are urging migrants on their way, and as a result it would be safe to say that Illinois is experiencing heavy migration tonight. To migrants, and to meteorologists, this system is a harbinger of colder times to come--systems like this cold-beckoning behemoth are what define winter in places at our latitude, and migrants would be doing themselves a favor to avoid it all together. So the struggle southward continues,  as migrants race the cold south until they escape its influence all together, and stay within the realm of their invertebrate prey.

Tonight's migration, while depicted a little melodramatically, helps to illustrate the wholly different challenges migrants come into contact with during "Fall" Migration, in stark contrast to the Spring.

Starting tomorrow, winds are forecast to become predominantly easterly, and gradually by Tuesday, are forecast to become southerly with a vengeance. There does appear to be a predicted arrival of westerly winds late on Tuesday, so we'll see what happens with that.

Anyway, that's all for tonight, folks. Here's to migrants beating the cold.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

10/12 IL Migration Report

Hey all!

Sorry again that I missed you all last night, but luckily, we have a very good report tonight compared to last night.

It starts with the storm front that very conveniently moved through the Prairie State this afternoon. This very large front, spawned from an even larger low pressure system now sitting near the Hudson Bay, moved in from northwest of us, and brought favorable northwesterly winds with it. Not only that, but the front seems to have sucked a lot of the remaining moisture out of the sky, leaving clear skies with a tailwind open to all migrants.

And it this point, in the right places, you can probably even hear them. To be a bit histrionic, migration is exploding tonight, and the radar is on fire. But this isn't the kind of fire we know. This is the dark blue or green fire that indicates anywhere from 300 to 3000 birds migrating per cubic kilometer. Simply put, get out to your favorite local patch tomorrow, because it should be a'hoppin' with birds. Which birds, you ask? Along with the continued movements of warblers, the last thrushes, shorebirds, and raptors, also expect some more wintery-types to be arriving and influxing, like kinglets, juncos, and even American Tree Sparrows. Also keep your eyes peeled for first arrivals of diving ducks, especially if you have a chance to bird along the lakefront. Open country birds like Sandhill Cranes, Horned Larks, American Pipits, and Lapland Longspurs will also be on the move tomorrow, so if you can, get out there! Make more of you own predictions here.
That big ol' cold front did us (and of course the migrants) a
favor. Favorable NW winds are trailing behind it.

For once, wind forecast shows that tonight's favorability doesn't end tonight! At least through Monday morning, winds are forecast to be northerly based. Thereafter, things will be more easterly. 

Very good, indeed. Here's to some great birding tomorrow! You may run into me out at Montrose...

Thursday, October 10, 2013

10/10 (and some 10/9) IL Migration Report


Tonight's migration
Hey folks,

My sincerest apologies for missing you all yesterday. Busy nights come as they please and not necessarily at convenient times.

All said, we didn't miss much. Southerly winds have been dictating what happens in the sky the past couple nights, and for that reason migrants have been mostly grounded. Tonight we're experiencing light to negligible migration, whereas last night was a little bit heavier, with moderate migration in some places. So, as I say, that's that about that.
Last night's migration

Looking forward, things are forecast to improve this weekend. On Saturday morning, a cold front, closely followed by west/northwesterly winds, will be moving in from the west bringing favorable migratory conditions with it. Expect radar on Saturday night to be fairly colorful. Having watched a little TV weather, I got a peek at winds predicted for Sunday. These predictions have the wind coming from the north, so Sunday night may be the most active night of the weekend. We shall see, my friends.

Cool. Have a great night everybody.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

10/8 IL Migration Report

Hey Illinois,

So today, it seems like the winds have again taken command of the skies. Southerly winds rule all but the southernmost parts of the state, and as a result of this, migration is light throughout most of the state. Only these southernmost reaches of Illinois are experiencing moderate migration, as the winds are too weak there to be much of a headwind. Overall, though, tonight will definitely be a bit quieter than yesterday.

Looking forward a few days, winds are forecast to take on an easterly tinge tomorrow, and then return to a southerly orientation by Thursday. So not much that jumps out at us as favorable migratory conditions, but
we'll see what happens.

Cool. Bon voyage, everyone.

Monday, October 7, 2013

10/7 IL Migration Report

The Prairie State is graced with heavy
migration tonight.

Hey folks!

So again, in spite of unfavorable southwesterly winds tonight, birds are moving at moderate to heavy concentrations. The radar, as last night, is green in many places in Illinois, showing that the birds are racing the cold weather south. This means tomorrow, influxes of thrushes, warblers, and sparrows should be occurring tomorrow. As yesterday, keep an eye out for migrant raptors and any diving ducks, which should be appearing in Illinois soon. Predict what you'll be seeing here.
Tonight's should-be
unfavorable winds.

On the wind forecast, winds are predicted to remain dominated by southerly flow at least through Wednesday, but to echo yesterday, birds seem to be migrating in just about any conditions. Because of this, it's hard to say which days will be conducive to migration. But we could also predict that there will be moderate to heavy movements every night...and I'm okay with that!

Cool. Good luck everybody!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

10/6 (and a little 10/5) IL Migration Report

Tonight's unexpected but not unwelcome
migration.

Hey folks!

So at this point, we have reached an important threshold. It is a point that I will, in my high level of scientific sophistication, term "birds-too-sick-of-sitting-around-not-to-migrate-ism". Whether or not this is actually the case, it's starting to get cold. And birds are responding. Even Saturday night, when winds were predominantly southerly throughout much of the state, moderate migration was occurring. Tonight, a similar story is developing; winds are predominantly westerly with an unfavorable southerly tinge to it in many places. Regardless of that, the radar is even green in some places, indicating moderate to heavy migration! Looking at specific radar stations around Illinois, we can see the migrants are moving southeast with the westerly winds. 

So what could be the causes of this? In the realm of insectivores, which most neotropical migrants
are, food gets scarcer and scarcer as average temperatures drop. It also takes much more energy to maintain body heat during the night. In effect, if migrants don't make it south, they're daily energy demands double at a time when energy sources are halving or disappearing entirely.
Red colors means the birds are moving away from the
radar station, blue means they are moving toward, and
the grayish division between the two is perpendicular
to the birds' direction of travel

I think this sense of urgency has been causing the migration seen the past couple of nights. We still have a lot to learn about migration, but an interesting question is this: would migrants be moving in such large numbers tonight if the temperatures were warmer? It's hard to know for sure.

Regardless, expect influxes of about everything possible tomorrow, throughout the state. This means the last of the thrushes, later-migrating warblers like Yellow-rumpeds, Pine, Palm, and Orange-crowned, and especially sparrows. Expect peak influxes of Nelson's Sparrow to continue at least for the next week. Raptors should also be a big part of the story tomorrow, with falcons, later hawks, and hopefully that White-tailed Kite in Wisconsin moving south to our hawkwatches. Anytime now, as our Indian Summer comes to a melancholy close, waterfowl variety will begin growing with the arrival of diving ducks back into our state.
Tonights winds, which appear to not be
unfavorable enough!

Overall, according to the radar, the going's good in Illinois. The wind forecast, which predicts westerly winds through tomorrow and then southerly winds, seem to be becoming less relevant as birds have been migrating regardless of these conditions, so here's hoping for the best.

Awesome. Good luck, everyone.

Friday, October 4, 2013

10/4 IL Migration Report

Hey everybody,

Tonight, as last night, sees scant migration over much of Illinois. With the exception of northeasterly IL which may be experiencing some light reverse migration tonight, southerly winds are domineering migrants out of the sky. So that's all for tonight.

Looking ahead a few days, it looks like the combination of inbound storm fronts and southerly winds are set to keep birds on the ground at least through Sunday.

Not too much to write about then. Just note that tomorrow during the day, as the large storm front visible on the radar moves east, westerly winds will move into the area. These winds will become southerly again through Saturday night, but until then there's always the chances of western vagrants.

Cool. Have a great night, all.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

10/3 IL Migration Report

Tonight's winds. Click to view
live.
Hey all!

So one thing I'd like to clear up real quick is what happened last night. To start, winds, fairly strong and southerly, were not conducive to migration. But as mentioned yesterday, there was noise in the radar indicating light migration over much of state, and even some moderate migration along the lakefront. So why were birds still migrating? As of yet, I still don't have a great explanation. I can only tell you that winds were a little weaker and more easterly near the lakefront, which may have caused the slightly heavier movements observed there. Regardless, as I stated in my note in the IOS's Meadowlark, sometimes, nature breaks the rules. In this case, it gave us some new birds, and that's fine by me. Anyway, on to tonight...

Tonight's paltry migration
I have a similar story tonight to last night's, but in the case the radar really isn't lighting up much at all. Various storm systems combined with relatively strong southerly winds are making tonight the
wrong night to migrate, and the birds seem to be heeding this.

Looking forward at the wind forecast, we still can't quite see the light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel...southerly winds are still forecast to dominate the Prairie State at least through Saturday. I'll keep you all up to date.

Cool. That's all for now, folks.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

10/2 IL Migration Report

Tonight's unfavorable winds
Hi friends,

Short report again tonight. As far as Illinois is concerned, Southerly winds are dominating the skies right now, which means the birds aren't. Only light to negligible migration is occurring tonight (although there is some bird-looking noise on the radar over the Chicago area, I'm not sure it's birds). So that's that.

Skies are mostly bird-less over
most of Illinois, except for the
enigmatic noise over Chicago.
Looking then at the wind forecast, the prospects aren't great. For as long as the Intellicast forecast goes, Illinois is host to unfavorable southerly winds; expect low migration as a result at least through Friday, if not longer. Bummer.

At least there are plenty of migrants around! Here's to that, everybody.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

10/1 IL Migration Report

Hey everybody!

Slowly but surely, the cold front mentioned yesterday is heading our way from northwest of us, with favorable northerly wind not far behind (get a sneak peak at the front here: http://bit.ly/ZmucFO). Unfortunately, it appears that the front is moving slower/a little behind schedule from yesterday's forecast; ata this point, it seems likely that the front and its northerly winds will hardly make it south of the latitude of Chicago. As a result, migration should be mostly restricted to areas north of this line. Looking at the radar (http://bit.ly/17tyHz1 --excuse the slight prematurity of this post), migration is moderate to heavy on the northern side of the front; this should be expected in areas surpassed by the front tonight. Cool!

Tomorrow, the high pressure system causing these winds is forcast to pass by to the north of us. For this reason, our position in the influence of its counterclockwise-revolving winds will change, and by tomorrow afternoon winds in IL are forecast to be easterly in the north and southerly in the south. Winds are forecast (http://bit.ly/ZxyRq6) to remain predominantly southerly at least through Thursday, so bear with me again until these unfavorable conditions disappear.

Alrighty, folks. That's all for now!