Chicago weather: Winter storm timeline, what to expect

CHICAGO - A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for McHenry, Lake (IL), DeKalb, Kane, and LaSalle counties from 8 p.m. tonight through midnight Tuesday night. The rest of Chicagoland has a Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 8 p.m. until noon Tuesday.

Precipitation will likely begin as rain, but after a few hours, that will transition to snow, and then we will stay with snow until around daybreak Tuesday. We should see 2–5 inches areawide tonight.

Expect a slow Tuesday morning commute. Snow will eventually transition back to rain for most of the day along and southeast of I-55. We will also see rain in Chicago and northward along the lake into northern Cook and possibly into far eastern Lake Co, Illinois. With that said, expect rain to eat away at the snow these areas have on the ground from Monday night.

North and west of I-55 is where all the wintry action is expected. Wet, heavy snow will fall across the west and northwest suburbs where we have a Winter Storm Warning. As much as 6–12 inches will be possible in the Warned counties. Locations closer to I-55 will be on the lower end of that range; places like DeKalb and McHenry counties will be on the higher end.

Snow will finally move out of the area late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.

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Conditions will be quiet during the day on Wednesday, and then we could see some light snow develop across the northern half of the viewing area on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Another round of snow is expected Friday into Saturday, and that's a system that could bring several more inches of snow to the region. We'll be watching!

After our Friday/Saturday snow, all eyes will be on a blast of arctic air early next week. Highs may only be in the single digits by Monday.