Chicago’s biggest snowfall of seasonal forecast must start Wednesday morning

On February 12, 2025By Littum

Chicago is ready for its most significant snowfall in the season as a winter storm moves on Wednesday morning.

Snowfall is expected to intensify in the afternoon, bringing 3 to 6 inches to the metro area, according to the National Weather Service.

The Weather Service has issued a winter storm for some areas in Illinois and the northwestern Indiana from Wednesday morning until 2 pm. 3 Thursday.

Forecasts warn that the total sneak cumulation could exceed 6 inches, with snowfall rates of up to an inch per hour possible.

“The brown of the snow is going to hit between noon and at. 19 Wednesday, ”said Kevin Doom, a weather service meteorologist. “It looks like this will be Chicago’s most significant snowfall in the season.”

Snow could start as early as 7 p.m. 10 with light flurries before switching to moderate to heavy snow in the afternoon. The storm is expected to create dangerous travel conditions.

“It seems that the heaviest snow is about to hit right in the prime minister,” Doom said. “We advise people to plan ahead and allow extra travel time.”

Temperatures remain in the upper 20s during the snowfall, then slip sharply to almost zero on Thursday night.

A woman walks her dog in the center of Chicago on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. — Temperatures are expected to throw Thursday after a blizzard leaves 6 inches or more of snow.

Another system is expected to arrive late Friday afternoon in the evening, which potentially brings several centimeters, according to Weather Service. Some areas could see a mixture of rain and snow on Saturday, with locations further north to get snow on Friday.

“It may change because the storm is still forming, but there is potential for several centimeters of snow with this other system,” DOOM said.

After the weekend, colder air will settle down, with temperatures that potentially fall below zero Sunday morning and strong winds that make it feel even colder.

While the storm is expected to be Chicago’s biggest snowfall this season, it is not unusual for the city to see a storm of this size at least once a year, according to Doom.

“This is pretty common. It’s nothing unusual for Chicago, ”he said. “January and February are typically when we see the most snowfall, so this is right in line with when we usually get bigger storms.”

A person passes by a sign warning about falling ice in the center of Chicago on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. — A blizzard is expected to dump more than 6 inches of snow on some parts of the Chicago area on Wednesday.

So far this winter, Chicago has registered 10 inches of snow, well below the average of 24.7 inches for this time of year, according to Weather Service.

Last winter, Chicago had one of its hottest winters on the record, and the snowfall was a total of 22.2 inches, well below the seasonal average of 38.4 inches. One of the season’s biggest storms did not hit until the end of March, which brought 9 inches of snow near the border of Illinois-Wisconsin, but less to the city itself.

“This time last year we hadn’t seen anything completely of this size,” DOOM said.

In addition to this week, another system could develop next Tuesday, but no major storms are on the radar for the last part of the month.

“There is a pretty decent signal to a potential system on Tuesday, but nothing else is really on the scale of the last part of the month,” DOOM said. “However, that does not mean that there will be no one. We still have a few months where we could potentially see another big blizzard or two. “