Chicagoans brace for more bone-chilling cold and a double whammy of snow as the National Weather Service (NWS) keeps a wind chill advisory in full swing; temps, although slightly less harsh than Tuesday, are expected to remain in the risky zone with a morning reading of -13 at O'Hare, according to NBC Chicago.
The city is hunkering down for a snowy onslaught starting tonight into Thursday and another hit Thursday night into Friday, with the first round poised to pepper areas south of I-80 and Northwest Indiana, as noted in the detailed forecast and echoed by NBC Chicago, warning commuters to prep for reduced visibility and tricky travel conditions, piles of the white stuff could stack up to 3 inches in some areas though Thursday is slated to see cold clouds without snow before the evening's flurry.
Adding insult to winter's icy injury, an "Elevated Excessive Cold Risk" is forecast for Friday and the weekend with the hazard extending to shore-dwelling mariners with "Hazardous conditions for small craft" flagged by the Hazardous Weather Outlook, and ice jam flooding alerts have persisted along certain rivers, intensifying local residents' woes.
There's a silver lining on the frigid horizon though; above-average temperatures are potential game-changers later this January, bringing with them hopes of a "mini heatwave" as the NBC 5 Storm Team projects highs possibly reaching 41 degrees, casting a warm glow over the average seasonal temps that hover around the freezing mark; for a city besieged too long by Jack Frost's embrace these predictions could melt more than just snow, according to NBC Chicago.
