Following a gloomy day full of wet snow and rain, Wednesday across the Chicago area is expected to be calm and quiet with a warm-up on the way, the NBC 5 Storm Team said.
According to NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman, Wednesday will remain dry and breezy, with wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour at times. Temperatures are expected to remain seasonal, Roman said, with highs in the 30s and 40s.
Over the next 36 hours, those temperatures are expected to be even warmer.
Thursday morning temperatures will hover around 40 degrees, Roman said, and rise from there. By 11 a.m., temperatures Thursday are expected to reach 45 degrees, and 50 degrees by 1 p.m.
By 3 p.m., temperatures could even rise one or two degrees more, Roman said.
The warm-up continues, Roman said, as some areas "may be very close to 60 degrees Friday afternoon."
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However, the wet weather is expected to make a return for the weekend, as a system moving in late Friday into Saturday will bring rain and even thunderstorm chances, the National Weather Service said.
Forecast models show rain moving out by Sunday. However, a low end chance for showers -- or flurries -- remains, Roman said.
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Next week, a colder air mass is set to move in, Roman said. Still, temperatures are expected to be at or even above-average for much of December, forecast models show.