Chicago is living up to its nickname with a dose of wintry weather that's whipping through the streets and frosting windows with a light dusting of snow today. According to the National Weather Service, Chicago will see snowfall until 10:00 a.m., followed by the possibility of flurries; wind speeds could rage at 25 to 30 mph, calming slightly in the afternoon, but not before gusts might reach a frosty slap of 45 mph. The day's high is expected to hover around a chilly 24 degrees with new snow accumulation amounting to less than half an inch.
As evening beckons, the temperatures are poised to dip to about 16 degrees with persistent northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph, gusting to 25 mph. The cold continues through the week, and on Tuesday, there's a 20 percent chance of snow in the afternoon, while Wednesday could see a 50 percent chance of snow from noon onwards. The steady stream of frigid air and overcast skies is forecast to break only briefly on New Year's Day with some sunshine before returning to partly sunny conditions for the latter part of the week.
Meanwhile, the ABC7 AccuWeather team has spotlighted the less-than-tranquil side effects of such a weather pattern, indicating "strong winds, light snow and bitter cold" are in play, which may pave the way for travel hazards across the Chicago area. ABC7 meteorologist Mark McGinnis noted that wind gusts could potentially eclipse 50 mph at times.
This bout of inclement weather follows a series of tumultuous storms; notably, at least one confirmed tornado struck Iroquois County on Sunday. The National Weather Service is dispatching survey teams to assess the damage, which wreaked havoc in parts of Livingston, Ford, and Iroquois counties, the aftermath of which left at least two homes in Pontiac without roofs and forced repair crews to toil into the night to mend what the storm had ruthlessly taken. In the village of Forrest, a resident named Tina told ABC7, "I heard a big crash at this end of the house, when I was able to come look this tree had come down and it put a hole in the roof of my house and a hole in the roof of my garage." Amidst the chaos inflicted by nature's fury, Brian Quam, Superintendent of Prairie Central Schools, breathed a sigh of relief, as no injuries were reported, and the educational spaces of a local junior high school were spared, confining the rogue elements' wrath mostly to the gymnasium.
