Chicago recorded its third 2-inch-plus December snowfall Tuesday propelling the city's seasonal snow tally to 8.5 inches -- the third heaviest early season total here since 1980. Rain preceeded the snow -- lots of it. The day's 1.45-inch water equivalent precipitation tally set a new record for the day becoming the heaviest ever on Dec. 9. Had cold arrived earlier, snows that moisture could have generated -- 10 to 15 inches of it -- would have parallelled those recorded in a corridor of Wisconsin and Lower Michigan from north of Madison to Lake Huron. Snow falls there exceeded 12 to 16 inches.
Plummetting temps and 30+ m.p.h.gusts turned untreated roads into skating rinks late Tuesday. Snowfalls ranged from 2 to 4 inches north and west of the city and less than one inch in the south suburbs where rain persisted into the evening.
PATTERN CHANGE TO DELIVER MILDEST WEATHER IN TWO WEEKS THIS WEEKEND
Temperatures may be rising as early as Friday night as part of a new pattern which will see bitterly cold arctic air masses entering the country by way of the Rockies and Plains-much farther west than over the past month. Chicago highs are headed for the 40s this weekend.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
