Chicagoans can expect a chilly Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with a chance of snow on Wednesday and Thursday.
Temperatures for Turkey Day itself are expected to be in the mid-30s, according to the National Weather Service.
A weather system passing through on Wednesday could also bring rain or snow, which has the potential to last into Thanksgiving Day, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Birk.
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The highest chances of snow would be Wednesday afternoon and night, Birk said, although the Chicago area may still experience some light snowfall on Thursday as the weather system starts to exit the area.
As Chicagoans travel to visit family for the holidays – or head to Detroit for the Bears game – they may face potential weather-related travel disruptions, Birk said, depending on whether consistent snowfall occurs.
“There’s still a lot of question marks with it,” Birk said. “The possibility exists that we get very little to any (precipitation). And on the other side, there’s the potential we could actually get a few inches of accumulation… That would cause some travel disruptions around the area. But if we end up on the other side of the envelope there, there might not be too much in the way of disruptions.”
Overall, the week of Thanksgiving should bring a “return to colder conditions” after milder weather in the low 50s on Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Ricky Castro said.
A cold front is expected to come through the Chicago area Monday that will lead to lower temperatures as Thanksgiving approaches, according to Castro.
By the last few days of November, the National Weather Service predicts that Chicago will be seeing highs in the 20s and lows in the 10s, according to their temperature outlook.
After the holiday weekend, Castro said that a “pretty cold start to December” appears likely, with even colder air coming into the region.
“(This) would be a change from previous Decembers that were exceptionally mild, a lot of the Decembers we’ve had lately,” Castro said. “Actual winter weather in time for meteorological winter appears likely this year, at least from a temperature standpoint.”
These colder patterns will bring “occasional chances for accumulating snow,” he added, with Thursday’s snowfall being the season’s first “wake-up call that we’re in northern Illinois.”
“It’s been a warm fall, but it does not look like that’s going to be the case as we move to close out November into December, definitely,” Castro said.
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