As Chicagoans brace for a wet end to the year, the city finds itself in the throes of a holiday season showered not with snow, but rain and fog. The National Weather Service in Chicago predicts an imminent deluge, with rain set to intensify this afternoon and persist through the night, according to the official website.
Amidst the forecast, temperatures are expected to hover in the low to mid-50s through Saturday, dropping slightly as the week progresses, adds the official weather forecast. A soup of fog and drizzle will settle over the region tonight, potentially reducing visibility in certain areas come morning. "Some locally dense fog with visibility less than a mile is possible in some spots toward morning," says the Hazardous Weather Outlook. The coming days foretell clouds hanging low and determined, with the respite of clear skies a seeming rarity.
For those with dreams of a white Christmas, the weather seems keen on defying tradition this year. "Rain, mainly after 1 pm. High near 45," the forecast sets a decidedly soggy scene for Friday, with the National Weather Service confirming an "80 percent chance of precipitation" on Christmas Day itself. Thus, the anticipation of snow's silence is exchanged for the patter of persistent rains.
Moreover, the unsettled weather promises to linger beyond the holiday cheer. "The majority of Saturday being rain-free but cloudy with highs in the low to mid-50s," reports FOX 32 Chicago. The end of December is shaping up to test the waterproofing of boots and the sturdiness of umbrellas, with showers likely to make frequent appearances on Tuesday and into Wednesday.
