Chicago is expected to see its first snowfall of the season on Wednesday evening after an unusually warm fall.
Scattered “bursts” of rain, snow and sleet are expected to begin in the late afternoon on Wednesday, with occasional snow showers continuing throughout the night, said National Weather Service meteorologist Gino Izzi.
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Another weather system coming in from the north on Thursday morning should then bring a few hours of additional snow, before transitioning into a light drizzle, he said.
“It looks like we’ve got a little taste of winter coming,” Izzi said.
Some slushy accumulation may occur within the city, although those in the suburbs are much more likely to see the snow stick, particularly on elevated or grassy surfaces, according to Izzi.
Less than one inch of snow accumulation is possible, according to the weather service.
Temperatures overnight on Wednesday are expected to fall to near freezing within Chicago, with the far western and northwestern suburbs potentially seeing temperatures in the upper 20s, Izzi said.
Such temperatures would mark Chicago’s first freeze of the season, which typically occurs in mid- to late October. In 2023, Chicago’s first snowfall and first freeze both occurred on Halloween.
By midday on Thursday, temperatures are expected to rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which should melt any accumulated snow and leave it a “distant memory” by the evening, Izzi said.
Later this week, temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s during the daytime, according to the weather service forecast.
“Temperatures are going to get more typical for this time of year,” Izzi said. “We’ve been incredibly warm so far. I think we’re running one of the warmest falls ever in Chicago on record, in like 150 years, so our baseline for what it should be like now is probably a little convoluted. So I think temperatures are going to be much more typical for what we should see from mid-late November, which is highs in the 40s.”
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