Wind Chill Advisory In Place, Bitterly Cold Stretch Continues

Why So Cold?

There are plenty of factors into why our Tuesday is starting off brutally cold. The first having to do with the rather strong area of high-pressure that is in control of the Midwestern states. With that in place, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin are sitting under a completely clear sky. 

The second major factor is the fresh snowpack. After the sun goes down, the heat absorbed by the snow is radiated back into the atmosphere, allowing temperatures to fall a bit more rapidly than if there was no snow on the ground. In the end, you have the perfect formula for temperatures to fall well below-zero to kick off our Tuesday. Not only that, there will be just enough wind present to also allow wind chills to fall. 

Wind Chill Advisory:

For that reason, the National Weather Service has placed Stephenson, Carroll, and Jo-Daviess County in N. Illinois as well as our three S. Wisconsin counties under a WIND CHILL ADVISORY. This will be in place until 9am as wind chill values could range from -15° to as low as -25°. 

Before you head out the door, make sure you are properly prepared as frostbite could occur on exposed skin in as little as 20-30 minutes. Despite the fact that our day features plenty of sunshine, the snow cover will make it difficult for temperatures to climb. Most will struggle to make it out of the single-digits. Another bitterly cold night lies ahead as we can expect lows to fall on either side of the 0-degree mark under a few clouds. Wind chills Wednesday morning won't be as low, but still will range between -10° to -15°.

Remaining Cold:

With time, this high-pressure system will shift to the east, allowing a somewhat warmer regime to take control for Wednesday and Thursday. Under a generally dry sky, high temperatures will climb back into the low 20s Wednesday, then upper 20s Thursday ahead of our next cold front. 

Forecast models do show quite the cool-down occurring behind the frontal boundary, which will briefly place highs back in the lower teens for Friday. When you do the calculations, both today's high and Friday's high land close to 20-degrees below-average. It's not until late-Friday into early Saturday that we introduce a slim chance for a few flurries and light snow showers. However, a slightly better shot at wintry precipitation moves in late Sunday into Monday, falling in the form of a wintry mix.