West winds will howl across the Chicago area Sunday, a harbinger of the season’s first
cold-air blast that will send the mercury tumbling to its lowest levels since April.
Though readings peak in the middle 50s on Sunday, west winds will gust as high as 50
m.p.h. as the colder air arrives. Skies will cloud over by evening as temperatures fall
through the 40s and into the lower 30s by Monday morning, which could bring not only
the season’s first freezing temperatures but the first snow flurries as well. The
combination of gusty northwest winds and high temperatures struggling to reach only
the lower 40s Monday will give the day an early-December feel. The chill will be
fleeting, as readings rebound to the middle and upper 50s midweek, setting the stage
for a mild Halloween with temperatures surging into the 60s.
MIDWEST’S FIRST WINTER STORM WATCHES IN WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN
The system responsible for Chicago’s chill will bring lake-effect snowfall to portions of
the upper Midwest downwind of Lake Superior. Winter storm watches have been posted
for up to 8 inches of snow from Bay- field, Wis., to just south of Upper Michigan’s
Keweenaw Peninsula by Monday.
