The Thanksgiving weekend is to remain free of weather woes until Sunday when an
intensifying storm may take center stage. A high of 45 degrees is predicted Thursday
-- 12 degrees milder than the popular holiday was a year ago. It's a temperature which
places this Thanksgiving among the mildest 35 percent of the past half century.
Many details on just how the wintry late-weekend weather is to unfold for holiday
travelers remain hazy. But weather history tells us December's arrival -- on Monday --
marks the start of Chicago's snowiest four months. The period hosts 93 percent of the
city's biggest snowstorms. Much about Sunday's weather depends on the future track
of low pressure predicted to spin-up over the Midwest, dropping from Minnesota into
central Illinois then sweeping northeast toward Lake Erie where it is to slow down.
CALIFORNIA STORM DOUSES THE SOUTH WITH A FULL MONTH OF
RAIN
Heavy rains totaling more than 3 inches in spots doused southern California. The
deluge flooded sections of Santa Barbara and Burbank. Phoenix recorded its first
measurable rain in 86 days.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
