Latest Weather, Snow Chances – NBC Chicago

This week, the Chicago area went from 50 degree temperatures to snow flurries and subzero wind chills, with a warming trend and rain in the forecast for the weekend. But what exactly does Chicago’s Christmas forecast hold?

According to NBC 5 meteorologist Alicia Roman, those hoping for snow this Christmas probably won’t get their wish.

Looking at Chicago’s extended weather forecast, Roman noted that Chicago expects to see above-average temperatures between Dec. 20 and 26.

That means the National Weather Service is predicting temperatures will likely be above 34 or 35 degrees, Roman said, although models can change.

Warming trend in Chicago’s weekend forecast

“Do you dream of a white Christmas?” Roman said Friday of Chicago’s extended weather forecast. “You might just be dreaming.”

And while Friday started out cold, with single-digit temperatures and even lower wind chills, there was a warming on deck, starting with temperatures reaching the upper 20s and low 30s Friday afternoon.

“Cold this morning, but not as cold as yesterday morning,” Roman said, calling out Wednesday’s wind chill as low as -20 as an arctic blast swept through.

On Saturday, temperatures were expected to reach 40 degrees, Roman said, with rain moving in during the afternoon.

Around By 1 p.m., snowflakes could mix with showers to the west, Roman said, and all precipitation is expected to transition to liquid around 1 p.m. 15:00 as the rain pushes east.

By 4 p.m., the entire Chicago area will see scattered showers, with rain lasting Saturday night into Sunday morning.

While those showers will gradually end by mid-morning Sunday, another round of rain was expected Sunday evening, with the rain expected to last through the Monday morning commute.

Temperatures Sunday were expected to be even warmer, Roman said, with highs in the low to mid-40s and a high of 52 degrees expected Monday.

This is what Chicago’s Christmas weather typically looks like

According to the National Weather Service, a “White Christmas” is defined as a holiday where there is at least an inch of snow on the ground, regardless of whether the snow fell on Christmas Day.

Data from the NWS shows that Chicago has had a “White Christmas” approximately 41% of the time since records began in 1884.

That number includes 2022, when there was an inch of snow on the ground for the holiday, according to the NWS weather almanac.

The most snow Chicago ever received on Christmas Day itself was 5.1 inches of accumulation, a mark set back in 1950.

The following year, Chicago recorded its greatest snow depth with 17 inches of snow on the ground for the holidays.

The hottest temperature ever recorded at Christmas in Chicago, dating back to 1871, is 64 degrees, which was hit in 1982.

The coldest high temperature recorded in Chicago for Christmas actually came the following year in 1983, with a high of -5 degrees. The low temperature that day was a positively frigid minus-17, the coldest temperature ever recorded at Christmas.

In 2022, Chicago’s high temperature was just 14 degrees, making it the seventh-coldest Christmas on record.

In 2023, Chicago’s Christmas temperatures were above average.