Is Mother Nature playing catch-up? Storm could drop 9 inches of snow on Chicago: NWS

While snow was late in arriving this year, Mother Nature seems set on catching up as the Chicago area is expected to get as much as 9 inches of snow this weekend.

A winter storm warning was scheduled to last until 6 a.m. Sunday for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, the National Weather Service said.

The steadiest snow was expected to fall between 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, the weather service said, but forecasters said it would last through midnight along the lakeshore. Temperatures will gradually fall throughout the day.

Higher totals will fall closer to the lake, with Chicago potentially getting up to 9 inches in some areas, the weather service said. Kankakee, Pontiac and other southern regions could see up to 4 inches.

The city will deploy 287 salt spreaders from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

In addition to the snow, wind gusts up to 40 mph are also expected, reducing visibility and making travel treacherous, the weather service said.

Chicago saw its first measurable snowfall of the winter Tuesday, marking a new date for the latest measurable snow in the Chicago area. The previous record was Dec. 20, 2012.

The area usually gets its first measurable snow around Nov. 18.

After the storm, the area is expected to enter a cold snap, the weather service said. Temperatures during the day Sunday could drop into the teens and at night may drop below zero.

Temps should rise by the middle of the week.