Mild temps before drastic weekend plunge

FIRST, THURSDAY WEATHER HEADLINES 

–TEMPS RESURGE 16 to 20 deg FRIDAY—reaching the mid-50s in roaring south winds with gusts which build to 40 mph by Friday afternoon 

–An equally dramatic temp plunge hits Saturday in strong winds with gusts to 45 and 50 mph possible—especially in the morning. Daytime temps will start near 40—but fall back to the upper 20s and low 30s by evening 

–The coming weekend is to average 12-deg colder than last weekend when highs hit 56 Saturday and 47 on Sunday.  

–A colder week overall is ahead next week. This week is to finish with a 34-deg average; next week is to come in at 28 

–It’s METEOROLOGICAL/CLIMATOLOGICAL winter. Days continue to shorten through the winter solstice—our shortest day of the year in Chicago and the northern hemisphere. We’ll see another 14 minutes of daylight disappear between now and them. Days begin to lengthen later this month—but only but fractions of a minute per day initially. Despite this, temps typically reach their coldest levels in January—the season temp increase here lagging the shortest day by a month or so. 

–December is typically Chicago’s 3rd coldest and 3rd snowiest month with an average of 7.6″ of snow. 

–The December weather trends as predicted by the NWS Climate Prediction Center suggest the month will come in colder than normal and drier than normal—continuing a dry trend which been with us all year. 6 of the past 7 months—including the last four in a row—have produced less precip than normal. 

HERE’S THE LATEST THURSDAY CHICAGO METRO FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, DEC. 1

TONIGHT: Becoming partly cloudy, breezy and not as cold. Low 29. 

FRIDAY: A good deal of cloudiness—but with some passing sun. Quite windy and 15 to 20-deg milder. Wind gusts top 40 mph at times by and during the afternoon. High 54. 

FRIDAY NIGHT: Chance of several showers—windy and turning colder before morning. Low 20. 

SATURDAY: Mostly sunny, but very windy and significantly colder as the day progresses. High 40 early—but falling to 29 by nightfall. 

SUNDAY: A good deal of sunshine—but some mixed clouds at times, windy and a bit milder. High 40. 

MONDAY: Clouds move in, breezy. Near seasonable temps. Chance of at least some rain later in the day into Monday night. High 42. 

TUESDAY: Cloudy spells, breezy and colder. High 36. 

WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy, windy and colder. Chance of flurries. High 33. 

THURSDAY: Clouds, especially lakeside counties where some lake effect flurries are possible. Breezy and cold. High 33.