Sunshine makes a brief return ahead of Friday's snow chances

Quiet conditions settle in briefly behind Wednesday's potent spring storm, though snow chances will be rather quick to slide back in.

Thursday begins with a few passing clouds and temperatures in the low to mid 20s. Factor in this morning's breeze out of the northwest and you get wind chill values in the teens. Skies remain partly cloudy this afternoon, with highs landing on either side of the 40-degree mark. 

Expect quiet conditions to remain in place for the evening commute and for much of the night, though clouds will be increasing as our next system glides across the central plains. Not too far behind that will be our next snow chance. As of this morning, winter weather alerts span across Wyoming, Nebraska, and into portions of Iowa. There are no winter alerts for us just yet, but that may change as we inch closer to the morning commute on Friday.

Scattered snow showers look to be a possibility for much of the morning, with chances extending into the afternoon hours. As the low pulls away, snow chances will drop by Friday evening. While most forecast models show northern Illinois picking up a slushy inch or two, I do think the March sun angle and the somewhat warm ground will limit our accumulations to 1" or less. Sunshine is due back over the weekend with highs peaking in the 40s.