Chicago weather: Cold Thanksgiving ahead with 6+ inches of snow expected this weekend

Chicago weather: Wednesday morning forecast

FOX 32's Mike Caplanbreaks down today's weather outlook.

CHICAGO - Mother Nature has taken a decidedly wintry turn and we start with strong winds and a blast of cold air today. 

A Wind Advisory will remain into effect through tonight and winds could hit 50 mph at times. Any snow flurries or light snow showers will look much more impressive with the snow-globe effect in place. Highs today have already happened with temperatures staying in the 30s during the day with windchills in the teens. 

Chicago Thanksgiving weekend forecast

What's next:

For Thanksgiving, it will be cold but dry. Winds won’t be quite as strong, but they will still be gusty. Highs will barely reach freezing. Then we await the big winter storm which continues to look a little more ominous with each computer forecast run that comes in.

While Friday will be dry, it will continue to be unseasonably cold with highs once again in the low to mid 30s. Snow should begin overnight into Saturday morning during the wee hours. It will likely snow all day long, with 6 inches plus looking likely for the entire area. It will continue to be rather windy, which will make travel very difficult on Saturday. 

Snow will continue into the evening hours before tapering off to flurries late at night. With the resulting snow pack in place temperatures heading into early next week will remain unseasonably cold with the prospects for more snow arriving by midweek.