Chicago weather: Temps tumble, NW Indiana prepares for heavy snow

Chicago weather: Wednesday morning forecast

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

CHICAGO - Record highs were set yesterday in Waukegan, West Chicago, Aurora and Wheeling. Granted, these locations have not been keeping records as long as Chicago but it speaks to the fact that yesterday was unseasonably mild. 

What we know:

O’Hare managed to hit 52° as predicted, and now I see nothing remotely close to it in the foreseeable future. Instead, we will be dealing with much colder weather and repeated episodes of light snow in the Chicago area. 

Today’s high was 42 degrees and it happened at midnight. Now temperatures will be falling through the day into the 20s along with a gusty wind. On my way in I had a handful of sprinkles. As the cold air comes in, precipitation will change to light snow showers, perhaps enough to coat the ground. 

Of greater concern is the lake-effect snow, which will be attacking parts of northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan today and tomorrow. Porter County will be under a winter weather advisory starting at 8 a.m. with LaPorte and Berrien counties dealing with a Winter Storm Warning. Travel in these areas will be difficult both today and tomorrow. 

There remain some rather significant differences, however, in exactly where the heaviest snow sets up and how much comes down. The computer model that I prefer shows a very narrow channel of heavy snow over far eastern Berrien and LaPorte counties heading towards South Bend. Tonight will be partly to mostly cloudy with lows in the mid-teens. 

Future forecast

What's next:

Tomorrow will be sunnier but quite cold with highs in the low to mid 20s. Tomorrow night, snow moves into Chicagoland and it will continue into Friday when highs will climb into the mid 30s, mitigating some of the impacts of any snow that is falling. Additional snow showers will be possible Friday night, Saturday and perhaps even Sunday. High temperatures both Saturday and Sunday will not be far from 20°. 

I still think Sunday is colder with highs in the upper teens which would mean that the Bears game would be played with temperatures falling perhaps into the high single digits at the end of the game with windchill below zero. For the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday it will be partly to mostly cloudy and cold with highs around 20.