Winter 2008-09 shaping up to be one of the worst

Still digging out from the weekend storm that brought up to a foot of snow to the city,
the Chicago area is bracing for three more shots of snow along with one of the coldest
arctic blasts in more than a decade.
With a polar express jet stream locked in place, a parade of storms is slated to roll
through the city this week bringing snow and severe cold.
Winter 2008-09 to date is already one of the snowiest on record, and that lofty total
should climb substantially by the end of the week. Chicago is poised to eclipse the 38-inch
total that normally falls during an entire snow season as early as Monday night.
High temperatures may fail to break zero Thursday, something not experienced here
since Feb. 2-3, 1996.
PARTS OF EUROPE ALSO REELING FROM WINTRY WOES
Severe winter weather has also been plaguing Europe in recent days. At least 12 people
have died in the cold that saw readings plunge to nearly 20 below zero in Poland and
Germany. Snow has snarled travel, and many schools have been forced to close. In southern
France, Marseilles recorded its heaviest snowfall in 20 years.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist