Chicago is set for its most significant snowfall of the season as a winter storm moves in Wednesday afternoon, bringing 4 to 7 inches of snow to the metro area, according to the National Weather Service.
The Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for some areas of Illinois and northwest Indiana from Wednesday morning through late Wednesday night.
Forecasters warn that total snow accumulations could exceed 6 inches, with snowfall rates of an inch per hour possible.
“The brunt of the snow is gonna hit late Wednesday afternoon and during the evening,” said Kevin Doom, a Weather Service meteorologist. “It looks like this will be Chicago’s most significant snowfall of the season.”
The storm is expected to create hazardous travel conditions.
“It looks like the heaviest snow is on track to hit right during the p.m. rush hour,” Doom said. “We advise people to plan ahead and allow extra travel time.”
Snowfall will taper off overnight, but another system is expected Friday into Saturday, potentially bringing several more inches. Some rain could mix in on Saturday, but the storm will be mostly snow.
Temperatures will drop as the storm moves in, with highs between 15 and 20 degrees Thursday and lows near zero that night, according to the weather service. After the weekend, even colder air will settle in, with highs in the 20s on Sunday and strong winds.
While the storm is expected to be Chicago’s largest snowfall this season, it’s not unusual for the city to see a storm of this size at least once a year, according to Doom.
“This is pretty common. It’s nothing really out of the ordinary for Chicago,” Doom said. “January and February are typically when we see the most snowfall, so this is right in line with when we usually get bigger storms.”
So far this winter, Chicago has recorded 10 inches of snow, well below the average of 24.7 inches for this time of year, according to the weather service.
Last winter, Chicago had one of its warmest winters on record, and snowfall totaled 22.2, well below the seasonal average of 38.4 inches. One of the season’s largest storms didn’t hit until late March, bringing 9 inches of snow near the Illinois-Wisconsin border but less to the city itself.
“This time last year, we hadn’t seen anything quite of this magnitude,” Doom said.
Beyond this week, there are no major snowstorms on the radar, but that could change.
“There’s a pretty decent signal for a potential system on Tuesday, but nothing else is really on the scope for the latter part of the month,” Doom said. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be any, though. We still have a couple of months where we could potentially see another big snowstorm or two.”
