CHICAGO — It could soon look a lot like Christmas in Chicago in a departure from last year’s winter that was short on snow.
A cold front moving into the city will bring bursts of rain Tuesday night and wind gusts topping out around 50 mph overnight Tuesday, according to WGN-TV meteorologist Bill Snyder.
That will set the stage for “potential” heavy snowfall that could start Friday overnight and stretch all the way through Saturday, Snyder said.
The current models Snyder has been watching show Chicago will catch at least an inch of snow with a 75 percent chance of getting four inches or more.
The careful meteorologist — who spent decades as legendary weatherman Tom Skilling’s right-hand man — emphasized it was too early to “put a firm number” on the snowfall.
But he’s seen enough coming this way to dangle the carrot, which could soon lead to kids making snowmen.
“The snow will certainly put us in the holiday spirit after Thanksgiving,” Snyder said. “But it’s also not great timing for travel impacts.”
The biggest snowfall Chicago saw last winter was only 2.9 inches Nov. 21, 2024, Snyder said. That added to an underwhelming snow total of 17.6 inches for the season, the city’s least-snowy in more than 70 years.
“There could be quite a change,” Snyder said. “The potential is there.”
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