Winter finally arrived this weekend with the first major cold outbreak of the season. It was a tale of two seasons with highs Friday and Saturday in the 50s to lows in the 20s/30s Saturday night and highs in the 20s/30s on Sunday. Though the drop in temperatures Saturday and Sunday is normal for this time of year, the change was drastic to the human skin. Much of the country is in the midst of a cold snap including typically warm locations such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
Weather models are in good agreement that the cold weather will linger around for a while especially across the eastern two-thirds of the nation. Here in Chicago, the cold is expected to last through this weekend with possibly another reinforcement of cold air next week.
Despite the cold air's arrival, the region has still been snowless. To date, only 0.4" of snow has fallen at O'Hare for the month, 3.9" below normal and only 1.3" total has fallen for the season (since Dec. 1) which is 11.2" below normal and 5.5" below last year which was also very dry. The presence of cold air makes conditions conducive for snow, but we need storm systems to provide moisture for snow production. Another lack of snow record is in jeopardy of being broken this week as there are no indications of any accumulating snowfall over the next several days. So while cold, this week will be mainly dry.
Complete Forecast
Monday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the mid 20s. Winds northwest 5-15 mph.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the upper 20s to lower 30s. Winds northwest 5-15 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny and cool. Highs in the mid to upper 30s. Winds southwest 5-15 mph.
Thursday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the mid to upper 20s. Winds northwest 5-15 mph.
Friday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the lower to mid 30s. Winds west 5-15 mph.
Saturday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the upper 20s. Winds west-northwest 5-15 mph.
Sunday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the upper 20s. Winds northwest 5-15 mph.
Monday: Partly cloudy and cool. Highs in the upper 20s. Winds west-northwest 5-15 mph.
8-15 day temperature trend outlook
Tuesday Jan. 22: Highs in the 20s.
Wednesday Jan. 23: Highs in the 20s.
Thursday Jan. 24: Highs in the 20s.
Friday Jan. 25: Highs in the 30s.
Saturday Jan. 26: Highs in the 30s.
Sunday Jan. 27: Highs in the 30s.
Monday Jan. 28: Highs in the 30s.
Tuesday Jan. 29: Highs in the 30s.
Wednesday Jan. 30: Highs in the 30s.
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