Temps in the 30s with fog in Chicagoland Friday morning, warmer weather to come

CHICAGO - It’s a rough ride Friday morning into the evening, with the risk of strong to severe thunderstorms looking more ominous in parts of Chicagoland. 

We open with fog that is restricting visibilities to less than ¼ mile, roughly east of I-55 and south of I-80. Advisory in effect for that until noon. 

Any sunshine this morning quickly fades as a dynamic winter storm bears down on our area. The storm will have a swath of disruptive, heavy snow north of its track, and a significant outbreak of severe thunderstorms in its warm sector. 

The current outlook from the Storm Prediction Center includes only I-80-south for even a marginal risk of severe storms, but that might shift even farther north. 

The action really ramps up late this afternoon as rain invades from the southwest. The evening commute will be slowed.

A surge of unseasonable warmth will arrive late tonight when our highs for the day (and tomorrow for that matter) will occur.

Temperatures in the 55°-60° range are supportive of an uptick in thunderstorm activity late tonight. As the cold front sweeps through the area before daybreak, temperatures will plummet and rain showers will morph into some snow showers.

Any "accumulation" would be limited to a few tenths of an inch and on grassy surfaces. Afternoon temps as sunshine emerges will be in the 30s. 

Winds will be strong tonight and tomorrow regardless of any thunderstorms warranting a wind advisory between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday. 

Beyond tomorrow, it’s really all about the unseasonable warmth. It is quite possible that we will have 7 days of 50°-plus highs starting tonight.

Sunday will be a close call but with uninterrupted sun, I think it’s doable. The peak of the warmth will be Wednesday when highs threaten the record of 64° set in 1971.