Good Lake Level, Great Forecast for Lake Koshkonong

More balmy weather is expected in the Chicago area today, and temperatures could reach 80 by Wednesday before plunging to the 40s by the weekend.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a high temperature of 73 degrees for Chicago today. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected through the early afternoon.

The warm weather, expected to last through Thursday, is due in part to winds bringing warm air up from the south, said Gino Izzi, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Romeoville. Wednesday could be even warmer, he said.

"It looks like we'll have a better chance of more sunshine, and we could have temperatures getting close to 80," he said.

Highs for this time of year typically average about 60 degrees, but most falls do have a few days in the 70s, Izzi said. The record high for Wednesday is 83, set in 1963.

By Saturday, the high is expected to reach only into the upper 40s.