Chicago, winter isn’t playing around. After an unusually snowy start—the city has already clocked 17.1 inches, nearly matching all of last season—the real punchline arrives this weekend, when wind chills are expected to drop to around -12 degrees in the city and even lower in the suburbs.
But first, Thursday is doing plenty of heavy lifting. The National Weather Service says temperatures will hold in the mid-20s today before yet another clipper system moves in tonight. Light snow could accumulate through Friday morning, with gusty winds keeping visibility low, a theme this week that refuses to shake.
Friday offers a brief reprieve with highs near 30, but the next system isn’t far behind. Snow returns Saturday morning and could stack a few more inches onto the city’s unusually snowy December, with southeast neighborhoods and northwest Indiana poised for the highest totals by Sunday.
Then comes the real plunge. By Saturday evening into early Sunday, temperatures fall into the single digits while wind chills sink well into the negatives, as low as -25 in some suburbs, meteorologist Ricky Castro told Block Club Chicago. It’s the sharpest drop of the season and the one Chicagoans will feel immediately.
From there, the cold digs in. Saturday’s high of about 10 degrees slips quickly after sunset and while some light snow may linger into Sunday, the real concern is the deep freeze—the kind that stings any exposed skin and makes even short errands feel like a questionable life choice. Sidewalks and side streets will likely stay slick as each round of precipitation freezes over, and the NWS notes that falling ice is possible as recent thawing loosens icicles from taller buildings.
So yes, it’s officially that time: layer up, keep trips short and check your transit or flight status before heading out.
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