Spectacular Labor Day weekend weather awaits Chicagoans. The 50,000-foot-tall thunderstorms that treated Downstate Illinois residents to spectacular lightning displays, while bypassing much of the Chicago area late Thursday, deposited downpours of 3 to 4 inches and have moved on. Rain-free weather is predicted well into Tuesday. The air mass responsible is to stall in coming days as air, vented out the top of intensifying Hurricane Gustav—expected to traverse the Gulf of Mexico this weekend—migrates away from the storm then sinks, warms and dries over much ... (more)