More cold, some snow; then relief

Winter must eventually yield to the inexorable arrival of spring—it always does—but for Chicagoans waiting impatiently for mild temperatures, it’s happening at a maddeningly slow pace this year. At long last, there is some good news: Computer models indicate a major weather pattern change, albeit a gradual one, that offers the prospect of significantly milder temperatures in upcoming days. Before that happens, however, we will have to endure another shot of cold and snow, this time in the form of an “Alberta Clipper” weather system—so called because it will sweep from Alberta, Canada, southeast across the Midwest. Increasingly cloudy skies today announce the approach of the clipper, and light snow begins by evening. An inch or two is likely before the system retreats to the east early Wednesday. Temperatures moderate slightly on Thursday, and warming arrives in earnest by Friday. --By Richard Koeneman, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist