The Chicago area experienced snow, bitter cold, and even blizzard-like conditions around Christmas last year.
This year? The Chicago area is expected to experience one of the ten warmest Christmases on record due to the predicted daily chances of rain starting on Friday. This could make for a soggy and wet holiday weekend.
“A rainy and gloomy holiday ahead as we enter the weekend and next week,” NBC 5 meteorologist Alicia Roman predicted for the upcoming days.
The NBC 5 Storm Team reports that the region will see consistent rain starting late Friday morning and early Friday afternoon. Widespread, rainy conditions with occasional moderate to heavy downpour are predicted by 2 p.m.
The National Weather Service predicted that late Friday will see the development of drizzle and fog as the rain tapers off, resulting in partial visibility reduction.
The temperature Friday will be mild, with a 47° high. Roman continued, “Those temperatures will even rise a few degrees on Saturday and Sunday.”
Chicago Holiday Prediction
According to Roman, Saturday will be cloudy with a low probability of rain. There may be a light drizzle in the morning or a few showers in the afternoon.
There will be more warmth on Saturday as well, with a high of 50 degrees.
Sunday, Christmas Eve, appears to be mainly clear, but by late Sunday night, rain may arrive in Central Illinois due to a wet weather pattern to the west.
Christmas Eve temperatures in the Chicago region and the Midwest are expected to be significantly above average, according to Roman, with a high of 56 degrees expected in the city.
Roman indicates that Monday, Christmas Day, will reach a high of 53 degrees, making 2023 Chicago’s seventh warmest Christmas on record.
Roman says that Christmastime temperatures typically reach a maximum of 34 degrees.
The NBC 5 Storm Team has the following ranking for a Christmas high temperature of 53 degrees:
According to Roman, there will be rain on Christmas Day as well. A consistent downpour is expected to start on Monday morning and last through the afternoon and evening.
According to Roman, there will likely be rain and snow on Tuesday at the latest, and possibly even on Wednesday morning.
“The system will stay with us over the holiday weekend and start of next week,” Roman stated.
Additionally, although it’s predicted that the weather will stay mild through Wednesday, with highs in the low 40s, the closer New Year’s Eve gets, the colder it will get.
Temperatures will have dropped by about 20 degrees by New Year’s Eve, with a high of only 36 degrees expected during the day. According to Roman, it appears to be considerably colder at night, with highs in the 20s.