The combination of rain most of the day Sunday – 40-degree temperatures that night – then strong winds Monday pretty well erased most of the snow cover around the Chicago area. Well to the north – close to the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, a thinning 1 to 3-inch snow-cover remained late Monday.. Wind Advisories were in effect Monday with many locations reporting gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour – the official Midway site registered a 60 mile-per-hour gust.
This loss of snow should allow temperatures to at least warm into the middle 30s Tuesday, despite cooler high pressure over the region. Wednesday the reflective power of snow cover will be practically non-existent, and plentiful sunshine and west to southwest winds should allow readings to warm back into the 40s.
Arctic cold returns
A cold front will bring cloudiness and snow flurries Thursday with cold Arctic high pressure following into the Midwest and western Great Lakes Friday – the coldest part of the air mass resting over our area Saturday. Some moderation in temperatures is expected Sunday into Monday as winds shift to the southwest.
