Lea Zmurko:  Starting the day with a chill

February 4: An early morning chill

The Northland is setting the stage for the mid-week snow, with cooler conditions and strong north west winds.

Conditions will be relatively quite for this Tuesday as the northwest winds continue to breeze in with high pressure siting overhead. Air temperatures will stay cool as the calm conditions allowed for many areas to drop well below zero and the incoming winds will encourage windchills to fall to 20 to 30 degrees below zero.

 A cold weather advisory is in effect for the early morning along Lake and Cook County as the winds across the Arrowhead remain amplified.

Clouds will congregate along the South Shore as some lake effect flakes will sputter out, otherwise the dry conditions and cold air will set the stage for the mid-week clipper expected to start on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning will be a busy day for plows as thew snow arrives overnight and a few inches can lead to some hazardous travel. Winds will likely be blowing around the fresh snow, and visibility will likely be impacted.

The Northland can expect a widespread accumulation of a couple inches by the time the clipper clears and winds will be amplified from the west in its wake for Thursday afternoon. The snow chances don’t stop there as we see another system on Saturday staying south of Highway 2.

Today

Partly sunny, with a high near 9. Wind chill values between -15 and -25. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around -2. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Wednesday

A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 20. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.

Thursday

Patchy blowing snow after 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 18. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Friday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 16. West wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Saturday

A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 17. West wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Monday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 8. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.