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A chill is in the air just in time for Thanksgiving in the Chicago area, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, with wind chills in the teens and cold weather expected as the week goes on.
"Definitely a cold start to the day," NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said Tuesday, with temperatures across the area in the 20s. Around 6 a.m., readings in DeKalb clocked in at 24 degrees, with a wind chill of just 11.
According to Roman, Tuesday was expected to be sunny, windy and chilly, with highs in the mid-30s to low 40s. Wednesday would be slightly milder, Roman said, with a high of 43 degrees.
But it won't last long.
"That's it," Roman said, "After that, we'll see temperatures drop."
Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, the National Service said a "brief bout of snow can't be ruled out." Later Wednesday afternoon, the chance for a rain-snow mix continues in counties to the south, including LaSalle, Grundy, Kankakee and Will Counties in Illinois, and Jasper and Newton Counties in Indiana.
"Showers mix with a flurry or two," Roman said, with the wet, snowy weather expected to continue moving east Wednesday into Thursday.
For Turkey Day, Northeast Illinois was expected to be dry with mostly cloudy skies, Roman said, with a high of 37 degrees. From there, temperatures will drop into the 20s, Roman added.
According to Roman, the next chance for flurries in the Chicago area comes Saturday.
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Forecasts warn of possible winter storms across US during Thanksgiving week
While the Chicago area was expected to remain dry, in other parts, rounds of snowy weather could complicate travel leading up to the holiday, according to forecasts across the U.S., while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages.
The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday.
Parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes regions saw rain and snow Monday, and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.
A low pressure system is forecast to bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast. Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and breezy conditions, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system tracks further inland, there could be less snow and more rain in the mountains, forecasters said.
“The system doesn’t look like a powerhouse right now,” Hayden Frank, a meteorologist with the weather service in Massachusetts, said Sunday. “Basically, this is going to bring rain to the I-95 corridor so travelers should prepare for wet weather. Unless the system trends a lot colder, it looks like rain.”
Frank said he isn’t seeing any major storm systems arriving for the weekend anywhere in the country so travelers heading home Sunday can expect good driving conditions. Temperatures, however, will get colder in the East while warming up out West.
