Forecast for the next 48 hours

Specific, long-term weather predictions can help with planning outdoor activities best suited for the cooler temps. To help you plan ahead, the private weather company AccuWeather has released its winter weather forecast.

Daily forecasts for Chicago are listed through the end of December. After that, AccuWeather lists the historical average temperature for the rest of the winter. Find out what's happening in Chicago with free, real-time updates from Patch. Let's go!

Upcoming 5 hours

For the end of November, AccuWeather is forecasting highs in the 40s for Chicago. The temperatures this time of year vary greatly.

Expect winter-like weather to persist early spring through April, occasionally including snow. May and June are quite pleasant, and arguably the paramount months of the year to visit Chicago. Lake Michigan is relatively cold in the spring, as warm temperatures are sluggishly heating up the hefty body of water. Wind takes a noteworthy part in the weather along the shoreline, creating vast differences in warmth for lakefront neighborhoods versus the rest of the Chicago area. What to Pack: Layers are the optimal way to go into spring.

The earlier chunk of the season necessitates a warmer jacket while the later part requires more light-weight options. Both counties are at risk of severe flooding due to the Mississippi River. Cook County isn't immune to weather disasters. The county has seen tornado activity and a new surge in derecho storms. Research on tornado and storm prediction Data from observed storms have been used to simulate tornadoes by computer, such as with the Blue Waters supercomputer at University of Illinois. Getting measurements of winds, moisture and other weather variables for thousands of feet of atmosphere cannot be done over large areas in real-time, yet.

And the amount of data that would create requires a supercomputer to chug through it. Even when all the right conditions are present for tornado development, a tornado might not form.

There may also be multiple mechanisms for tornado development. What causes a small tornado associated with a bowed thunderstorm complex may not be the same as what causes a large tornado associated with a supercell storm. All that being said, the research is progressing and there may be a time in the not too distant future when the lead time for issuing a warning can be significantly increased. You may bookmark the URL to return later to the same view with the selected settings.

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