Not even the warmest Christmas temperatures in 15 years which followed a night of wind-driven rain could deny Chicago a White Christmas Friday. The 1" of snow on the ground at O'Hare as the day dawned was enough to put Dec. 25, 2009, into the books as a White Christmas. But the warmth which fostered raindrops rather than snowflakes Friday morning succumbed to a rush of cold air into the area from the southwest beyond noon. Midday temperatures across Illinois Friday made it clear Chicago's mild air was in trouble. While O'Hare reported 42 degrees, readings in St. Louis to the south had plunged to 23, and Quincy, Ill., was shivering at 18.
Chicago's temperatures began a 10-hour, 20-degree plunge shortly before noon, registering 16 degrees of that drop in between noon and 6 p.m. The late morning high of 43 degrees had already put Christmas 2009 in the books as the mildest in 15 years -- and one of only two Christmases in the last decade and a half to reach the 40s.
After a morning of rain showers, snow was being reported at both the Midway and O'Hare observation sites just after 3 p.m. and an inch of snow had fallen by late evening in west suburban Batavia in the Fox Valley. Other 1" tallies were being reported to the west in and south in Ottawa, Freeport and Morrison.
Sunshine managed a brief appearance during the warm interlude Friday morning. The 10 minutes of sun at Midway Airport was the first here in 8 days. December 2009's record on sunshine has been dismal -- only 28% of the month's possible sun has occurred to date. That's safely above the record low of 19% but makes it the cloudiest December since the 24 percent recorded in 2007. The month typically sees 39% of its possible sun.
Snowy Saturday ahead including 2 to 4" accumulations
A mammoth winter storm centered in Iowa begins a slow eastward drift Saturday, circulating accumulating snow into the Chicago area into Saturday night. Computer models estimate precipitation is to total 0.30" during the period, and that the day's cold temperatures will support fluffier than usual snowflakes likely to produce accumulations between 2-4 inches. While snow is likely to be in the air frequently during the day, its intensity is likely to vary. Bursts of heavier snowfall under the storm's southern flank -- the region of the system Chicago will be in Saturday -- occasionally reduced visibilities to 1/2 to 1 mile. It's a set-up likely to be repeated here at times Saturday.
The so-called wrap-around snow is rotating out of a full-scale blizzard on the storm's back side which has crippled the Plains and far western Midwest. Accumulations there had reached 23" in Duluth late Friday and more than a foot over a wide swath of eastern Nebraska, Western Iowa, the Dakotas and west and northern Minnesota. Gusts hit 76 mph at Rapid City, and drifting snow closed many roads in the multistate region. Twenty deaths were being attributed to the storm late Friday.
Chicago's temperatures began a 10-hour, 20-degree plunge shortly before noon, registering 16 degrees of that drop in between noon and 6 p.m. The late morning high of 43 degrees had already put Christmas 2009 in the books as the mildest in 15 years -- and one of only two Christmases in the last decade and a half to reach the 40s.
After a morning of rain showers, snow was being reported at both the Midway and O'Hare observation sites just after 3 p.m. and an inch of snow had fallen by late evening in west suburban Batavia in the Fox Valley. Other 1" tallies were being reported to the west in and south in Ottawa, Freeport and Morrison.
Sunshine managed a brief appearance during the warm interlude Friday morning. The 10 minutes of sun at Midway Airport was the first here in 8 days. December 2009's record on sunshine has been dismal -- only 28% of the month's possible sun has occurred to date. That's safely above the record low of 19% but makes it the cloudiest December since the 24 percent recorded in 2007. The month typically sees 39% of its possible sun.
Snowy Saturday ahead including 2 to 4" accumulations
A mammoth winter storm centered in Iowa begins a slow eastward drift Saturday, circulating accumulating snow into the Chicago area into Saturday night. Computer models estimate precipitation is to total 0.30" during the period, and that the day's cold temperatures will support fluffier than usual snowflakes likely to produce accumulations between 2-4 inches. While snow is likely to be in the air frequently during the day, its intensity is likely to vary. Bursts of heavier snowfall under the storm's southern flank -- the region of the system Chicago will be in Saturday -- occasionally reduced visibilities to 1/2 to 1 mile. It's a set-up likely to be repeated here at times Saturday.
The so-called wrap-around snow is rotating out of a full-scale blizzard on the storm's back side which has crippled the Plains and far western Midwest. Accumulations there had reached 23" in Duluth late Friday and more than a foot over a wide swath of eastern Nebraska, Western Iowa, the Dakotas and west and northern Minnesota. Gusts hit 76 mph at Rapid City, and drifting snow closed many roads in the multistate region. Twenty deaths were being attributed to the storm late Friday.
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