Freezing rain, sleet and thunderstorms headed to Chicagoland

CHICAGO - Yet another mild day is in store this President’s Day.  

Highs will easily reach the mid to upper 40s with a mix of clouds and sun. Mid-30s would be normal for this time of year.  

In fact, there have been only seven days this entire year which have been colder than normal.  

With that said, winter may still have something in store for at least parts of our area this week.  

After a quiet day Tuesday with some sun and highs a few degrees cooler than Monday, a national-headline-making storm bears down on the Midwest and Chicagoland.  

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Locally, everything from drenching rainfall with embedded thunderstorms to a nasty mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow may impact our viewing area from Tuesday night into Thursday. 

Chicago is not a climatologically-favored area for ice storms.  

Two such events stand out: New Year's 1948 and Jan. 23-24, 1965.  

While minor episodes of localized freezing rain have occurred on several other occasions, those two are the biggies.  

Two of our regular computer models are currently advertising a significant ice storm for us, but it’s still early to sound the alarm.  

Should these models prove correct, disruptions to travel along with tree damage and power outages would be likely. 

After some cold air Friday, it’s back to the 40s this weekend.