Meteorological Winter Starts With High Winds, Cold Temps In Illinois

ILLINOIS — The first day of December marks the beginning of meteorological winter, and the Chicago area has definitely been seeing the windy part of winter, even if there hasn't been much snow in the area yet.

The National Weather Service said the windy pattern will continue as there will be more strong winds Friday into Saturday, with gusts up to 40 mph. A cold front late Friday night will bring sharply colder air into the area on Saturday, with wind chills of 0 to 15 degrees expected.

The weather service said on its Twitter that 77 percent of the area's annuals now falls during meteorological winter, which is December to February.

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That won't be the case in the first few days of December, as no snow is expected during the weekend, although the area could see some flakes on Monday, Dec. 5, according to the weather service forecast.

According to long-range forecasts from NOAA, temperatures for the Chicago area look to be below normal.

In the current forecast, temperatures highs look to be getting chillier as we advance into the month. The high for Friday is 49, the high for Saturday is 30, the high for Sunday is 39, the high for Monday, Dec. 5 is 41, the high for Dec. 6 is 37, and the high for Dec. 7 is 35 degrees.

There also doesn't seem to be a high probability of precipitation for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Long-range forecasts from NOAA put the Chicago area at equal chances or below normal chances for precipitation in the next few weeks.

A look at AccuWeather's monthly forecast for Chicago shows a few possible predictions for snow, with the next chance on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10.