Community Corner

Baby, It's Cold Outside (Not!)

Unseasonably warm weather continues into February as the remaining days of winter melt away.

The weatherman is calling for snow today, Friday. So what? After all, it is February. The forecast is making news because little snow has fallen this winter—Illinois’ sixth warmest on record.

This year's mild weather is far removed from one year ago when Burr Ridge was still that dropped nearly two feet of snow on the area. Burr Ridge budgeted more than $130,000 for salt this year, but has only used a fraction of it, according to Public Works Director Paul May.

State climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey says the average temperature in January for the state was 31.4 degrees. That's about 7 degrees above normal, making January the 13th warmest on record. The average temperature for December and January was 33.4 degrees. That makes it the sixth warmest December-January period since 1895.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The warm weather, of course, has meant less snow. Chicago snowfall for December and January totaled just 13.9 inches, half of the 27.3 inches that fell in December and January a year ago.

However, the National Weather Service has issued a lake-effect snow watch for Chicago and Cook County, and is predicting 3 to 8 inches of snow: 3 to 5 inches in far northeast Cook County, 4 to 7 inches across downtown Chicago and the south suburbs and 5 to 8 inches from the far southeast side of Chicago east into Indiana. It is expected to begin falling Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

DuPage County Friday’s weather is expected to be mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of light snow showers during the day, and 30 percent chance of light snow showers later at night.

Kane County weather is expected to be mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light snow showers on Friday only.

AccuWeather.com is predicting that the weather will turn colder during the snowfall, making the drive home Friday slippery as wet areas turn slushy and slushy areas freeze. The weather service also says visibility may get very low for a few hours in snow and blowing snow, perhaps resulting in flight delays.

Friday’s snowfall may just be a blip on the radar screen. Warm temps are expected to continue for the rest of the winter. The National Weather Service is now forecasting above normal temperatures and precipitation for the rest of the month in Illinois. The outlook for the February-March-April period also is calling for above-normal temps for the southern half of Illinois and above-normal rainfall statewide.


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