Get set for quite a temp ride the next two days!

Enjoy the low and mid 30s high temps Thursday because they’re not long for Chicago. Already northwest winds are howling to our west and sweeping arctic air and single digits temps into Iowa northwest, Minnesota and the Dakotas–and they’re headed toward Chicago.

First the depths of the arctic chill are to hit overnight through Friday. Chicago wind chills are likely to drop by daybreak Friday into the -10 to -20 range when thermometer readings are to hover close to zero.

A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect Thursday 11:00 p.m. to Friday 10:00 a.m. Counties include Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall , LaSalle, Lake, McHenry and Will.

Wind chills are expected to be as low as -20 to -25 degrees. The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.

Latest warnings and watches from the National Weather Service.

Temps and winds are to drop overnight as those strong winds arrive with some overnight gusts building to 30 mph.

Here are predicted temps/wind chills for Chicago in the next 24 hours.

  • 9pm: 15/0
  • Midnight: 7/-10
  • 7am Fri: -1/-17
  • Noon Fri: 7/-5
  • 4pm Friday: 9/0

Will it be warmer this weekend in Chicago?

Temps, as modeled for Chicago, shift above normal this Saturday and, according to the latest array of model runs I’ve analyzed, NEVER look back out the 15 days.

An extended period of above normal temps expected to dominate the coming two weeks.

Daytime temps resurge above freezing over the weekend and day to day temp surpluses through next week and the following weekend are likely to come in 9 to 15-deg above normal.

Rainy Days And Warmer Temps Likely Next Week

A more active precip pattern is projected for next week.

Many if not all of next week’s daytime highs are to reach the 40s with a potential for windy rain showers Monday night and a rainy late winter storm here a good bet here in Chicago in the Wednesday/Thursday time frame.

Guidance on the from the precip favors rain in Chicago next week–the most significant of the systems a windy rain-maker in the Wed/Thu time frame.

Systems in the week that follow come through with their critical rain/snow lines closer to Chicago. So the ABOVE NORMAL temp outlook doesn’t necessarily completely clear the snow potential at that time and we’ll be keeping an eye on any storm systems.