Chicago weather: Dangerous cold settles in with snow this weekend

Chicago weather: Thursday morning forecast

FOX 32's Mike Caplan breaks down today's weather outlook.

CHICAGO - Many perils lie ahead for Chicago as we head into the weekend.

Snow has finally ended across the area this morning and roads in northern Lake County are a mess. Repeat assaults by heavy snow showers put down more than 2 inches of snow in my neighborhood.

What to expect:

The rest of the day will be cold with morning sun yielding to afternoon cloudiness. Highs will just scratch by 20°. There is a small chance of a snow shower on the next and strongest cold front coming in late this afternoon and this evening. This will introduce the coldest air of the winter. Temperatures will nosedive tonight, warranting the Extreme Cold Warning from 3 a.m. to noon on Friday for much of our area. This is to account for windchills which will be worse than 30 below zero. 

Tomorrow’s actual temperatures may not get above zero the entire day. Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy. All day the wind chill is likely to stay 20 below zero or worse, warranting the extension of at least a cold weather advisory.

Personally, I would like to point out there is very little difference between a cold weather advisory and an extreme cold warning. The message should be that it’s dangerous to be outside for any period of time if not properly dressed and skin completely covered. I doubt anyone can really tell the difference between a -24 windchill and a -32 windchill. The impacts are painful and potentially dangerous with prolonged exposure. 

SCHOOL CLOSINGS LIST

The next focus shifts to the weekend when a much-advertised major winter storm will cross the southern half of the country. Crippling freezing rain and heavy snow will hit many states. The question is how far north does that snow reach? Battle lines are clearly drawn between the US and European computer forecast models. I have faith in the Euro, which is why I am predicting accumulating snow here, especially late Saturday through Sunday. It is likely that lake effect or lake enhancement will produce the heaviest snowfall totals near the water to about 20 miles inland on the Illinois side. 

The European model shows generally 3 to 7 inches of snow across our viewing area and this would require at the very least a winter weather advisory. It’s too early to sound of the alarm, but we should be prepared for the contingency of disruptive snowfall over the weekend. 

It will continue to be painfully cold this weekend with windchill values moderating somewhat Saturday and even more so Sunday. However, the prolonged duration of extreme cold will likely result in issues not only for humans, but also for plumbing. We should be prepared for burst water pipes as a news story over the next few days. Many schools will likely close tomorrow as well.