First Significant Snow for Chicago...Finally

On Monday, I discussed the 'Your Monday' segment on the blog and spoke at length about the East Asian jet taking on a more 'normal' look and what that was going to mean for portions of the northern U.S. Therefore, it does appear that the 'snowy' part of the forecast is about to begin for this part of the country.

Chicago and surrounding locations including Milwaukee are expected to receive snow in excess of 6" by the time everything winds down Friday morning. Winter Storm Watches have been posted and expect an upgrade to Warning status by day's end.

These areas have not seen much accumulation this season. Chicago's O'Hare has received only 1.9 inches this season. That's good enough for a #4 ranking for the least amount of snow thru January 10th. In addition, Milwaukee has only received 1.7", good enough for #3 ranking for the least amount of snow received thru January 9th.

There you have it. We're not the only ones suffering through a snow drought. Ok, their situation looks to improve. If the 'normal' pattern includes La Nina, we may be dealing with warmer temperatures and above average precipitation locally. Apparently, that's what the CPC believes. They have our region in a category of above normal temperatures and precipitation for the next 14 days. That must include the few days that we'll see below normal readings beginning this Friday. Hmm, I guess we'll see.

MS