Chicago Snowfall Expected This Weekend

Portions of the Chicago area could receive quite a bit of snowfall this weekend. This is the same system that looked like it could have impacted us with some wintry weather. However, the models have corrected to the northwest, as was expected. The low pressure system that is responsible for the snow will likely bring rain to our region. Some of the rain may end as snow, but accumulations look slim to none.

Two systems look to merge together to impact Chicago and dump the heaviest snowfall of the season on the city. Check out the setup below.

Critical thickness is a tool used by forecasters to better predict the precipitation type that will fall over a given area. The critical thickness at the height of the event is indicative that Chicago will likely stay cold enough for all snow throughout the event.

Another tool that meteorologists and forecasters like to use is a skew-t diagram. A skew-t allows you to look at the temperature, dew point temperature, as well as wind profile of the atmosphere over a specific point of interest. I plotted the below skew-t around Chicago, IL and this diagram confirms that the dominant precipitation type will likely be snow.

The result of the above analysis brings us to the conclusion that Chicago could be in for nice snow. The Weather Prediction Center has placed parts of that region under a “high” risk of at least 8″ of snow for the area.

The National Weather Service has also issued several Winter Storm Watches for portions of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Check back Monday for an article about the event. I’m sure we’ll have one up whether it unfolds like forecast, or it busts.