Tuesday marked a roller coaster of a day in the Chicago area, with record-high temperatures in the 70s throughout the area quickly turning to severe storms accompanied by multiple tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail.
With the severe weather threat now behind the area, a massive temperature swing is underway, with temperatures dropping approximately 50 degrees from their highs on Tuesday.
While the mercury is still in the high 50s at around 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, temperatures are expected to plummet within the next six hours, with freezing temperatures and possible snow on the back-end of the swing.
"From June to January," NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said of the dramatic shift in temperature and weather conditions.
The National Weather Service called it "an absolutely wild meteorological ride."
The cold front affecting the area began impacting some parts of the area earlier this evening, though the most pronounced impact will be between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
"A powerful cold front will race quickly across the area this evening producing a 20-30°F temperature drop in just an hour or so and strong northwest winds gusting to 35-45 mph," the NWS reported. "A brief period of gusts over 50 mph are possible (30-40%) immediately behind the front."
Local
Some locations will see air temps in the single digits overnight.
What's more, wind chills in some locations expected to be in the teens, possibly even near or below zero in some spots.
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The cold temps will be met with rain and possibly a light coating of snow. Depending on where the snow hits, some accumulations are possible.
By 8 a.m., the snow is expected to move out. After that, a cold and blustery day will set in, Roman said, with afternoon temperatures in the upper 20s and low 30s.
