A mercurial Mother Nature is alive and well in Chicago as a weather roller coaster is expected over the next 24 hours.
Thunderstorms that may “pack a punch” and hail are possible from Wednesday afternoon and evening before one to three inches of snow could fall with winds possibly exceeding 45 miles-per-hour, Brett Borchdt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. “It’s kind of a wild 24 hours of weather coming up.”
“The whole Chicago metropolitan area will be fair game,” Borchdt added.
A wind advisory was in place for much of northern Illinois and parts of northwestern Indiana from 11 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, according to the weather service.
The snow is expected to mix with rain sometime around midnight and become entirely snow around 3 a.m. Thursday as the temperature hovers around 30 degrees, the weather service said. Borchdt said the snow should end by daybreak.
The snow may create some slick spots in the road will reduce visibility due to the high winds, weather officials said.
“Take it slow out there on the roads, leave extra distance between [the driver] and the car in front of them and prepare for extra travel time, especially during the morning commute,” Borchdt said. “I know we’ve had some nice, warm Spring days but we’re still in the time of year where we have to deal with winter driving.”
The city usually sees the last snow of the season near the end of March or early April, though there have been instances of snow falling in Chicago in mid-April, according to Borchdt.
“It is typical to see snowflakes all the way through the rest of the month,” Borchdt said.