Explainer, STEVE KAHN

Despite the fact that the Chicago area  is expected to receive several bouts of snow this week, prospects for a white Christmas remain iffy at best.  The city may fail in accumulating the elusive inch of snow cover that is required  as a weak weather disturbance brings some light snow possibly mixed with drizzle Christmas Eve followed by lake-effect snow showers Christmas Day. But, it is the day after Christmas that several inches of snow could fall in the Chicago area  as a developing storm moves northeast from Texas spreading a band of heavy snow across the southern and eastern Midwest.  Colder air will continue to feed into the area in the wake of the storm and will be followed by another potential snowstorm that will take a similar southern Midwest track Friday and Saturday setting the stage for a  very wintry start to 2013.