For the second time in a week, the Chicago area will escape a major snowstorm. While last week's blizzard buried areas from Iowa to Michigan, this week's storm will target areas from the Southern Plains to the Lower Great Lakes, promising to usher in more than a foot of snow and blizzard conditions. The Chicago area will be buffeted by gusty northeast winds and occasional snow flurries, but a white Christmas will elude the city for the second straight year. Seasonal snowfall to date totals just 0.3 inch, an amount equaled only once before in 1943 in snow records dating back to 1884.
The last week of the year looks to be seasonably cold with highs in the 20s and lower 30s and lows in the teens and lower 20s. No major snowstorms appear in the offing, though scattered light snow or flurries should occur.
