Brace for a cold and windy weekend

FIRST, THE FRIDAY WEATHER HEADLINES

–FRIGID EARLY SEASON ARCTIC AIR TIGHTENED ITS GRIPS ON THE AREA as expected producing the week’s coldest high temps yet—–29 at O’Hare and 30 at Midway—though readings had fallen into the mid 20s as nightfall approached.

–There was NO SUN TODAY as snow flurries and a few heavier snow squalls swept the area at times amid wind gusts which it 37 mph at O’Hare and 36 mph at Midway dropping wind chills across the Greater Chicago area into the 6 to 14 degree range.

–High temps since Monday have declined steadily—from 42 Monday to 38 Tuesday, 37 Wednesday, 33 Thursday and just 29 at O’Hare today.

–THE CHILL DIPS TO ITS LOWEST POINT SATURDAY NIGHT—and ANY WARMING as the temp move back into the low 20s from Saturday’s 29 will be crushed by the strong winds which are to blow all weekend

–Saturday will see peak wind gusts approaching 40 mph and Sunday will host 28 mph peak gusts.

–THIS WEEKEND is to come in 11-deg colder than last—-and that’s saying something because last week wasn’t exactly a thermal winner either. Last weekend’s 36/32 extremes Saturday and 38/28 extremes Sunday—will compare to THIS SATURDAY’s predicted 29/13 and SUNDAY’s 32/24 highs and lows.

–TEMPS REBOUND THE EARLY AND MIDDLE PART OF NEXT WEEK with highs of 43 Monday, 48 Tuesday and 42 Wednesday.

–NO CLEAR RESOLUTION of all the details of the Thanksgiving (Thursday) and Friday weather system—models continue varied in their solutions. Averaging across what they’re now showing, it does appear clouds and the potential for at least some snow may be in the offing—particularly Thursday night and Friday. NO CLEAR SIGN OF A STORM HERE at this point—but a deep upper air trough is to develop over the nation’s midsection. That’s just not lining up as a full blow storm producer at this point. This DOES put the period in play for some potential precipitation and we’ll keep monitoring. The fact several runs over recent days have spun up a storm system flags the period to at least keep our eyes on—and we’ll do just that.

HERE MY LATEST FRIDAY CHICAGO METRO FORECAST

TONIGHT: Widespread cloudiness continues amid blustery, cold west winds. Flurries may pass by at times. Low 19.

SATURDAY: More clouds than sun, quite windy and cold. Several snow showers possible, especially in the afternoon. Wind gusts to 40 mph at times. High 29—but full day wind chills will range from 0 to 20 above.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Clouds scatter, cold and windy. Low 13—with a few single digit lows possible colder far northwest suburbs.

SUNDAY: A good deal of sunshine, windy and cold. High 32.

MONDAY: Early clouds give way to mostly sunny skies, windy and milder. High 43—-more than 10-deg higher than Sunday.

TUESDAY: Mostly sunny and breezy with the first ABOVE NORMAL daytime highs in more than a week. High 48.

WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy, seasonably mild. High 42.

THANKSGIVING (Thursday): Increasing cloudiness—near seasonable temperatures. High 39.

FRIDAY: Cloudy, chance of some snow. High 39.