The Chicago area saw severe thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday, and followed it up with snow on Sunday, but both events could occur on a single day this week.
According to the National Weather Service and the NBC 5 Storm Team, the Chicago area could potentially see severe weather on Wednesday, and a rapid cooldown could lead to rain transitioning to snow late Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
Before that threat arrives in the forecast, Chicago will see another warm day on Tuesday. A breeze out of the south will warm things up significantly, with high temperatures in the 60s across most of the area. Some areas south of Interstate 80 could even threaten 70 degrees, but the northern suburbs along Lake Michigan could see a cooldown in the afternoon as winds shift slightly off of the lake, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team.
Clouds will start to build in the area on Wednesday, and while highs will reach into the 60s again, weather threats are expected to emerge, including that of severe weather.
In fact, according to the Storm Prediction Center, nearly the entire Chicago area will be at a “slight” risk of severe weather on Wednesday afternoon, the second of five categories used to determine the likelihood of powerful thunderstorms in a given area.
The impacted counties include Kane, DuPage, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee counties in Illinois, along with Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana.
Areas of the northern suburbs will be at a “marginal” risk of severe storms.
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According to SPC guidance, conditions Wednesday could allow for the development of a “few supercell thunderstorms,” which could form into a fast-moving cluster impacting the area along the border of Illinois and Indiana.
The main threats with any severe storms that develop would be strong-to-severe wind gusts, though the SPC isn’t ruling out hail or a threat of tornadoes at this time.
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Once those storms move out of the area, temperatures are expected to cool down quickly, and those readings could tumble enough to see lingering precipitation in the area transition over to snow, according to NBC 5 Storm Team forecast models.
That snow could develop late Wednesday night, and could persist in the area until close to daybreak on Thursday, according to forecast models.
Once the snow leaves the area, winds out of the northwest will keep temperatures on the cool side, with readings in the low-to-mid 40s across the area.
Highs are expected to start to moderate a bit Friday and into the weekend, with readings in the 50s.
