More snow could be on the way Sunday as a cold snap that has enveloped the Chicago area begins to release its icy grip.
Another round of accumulating snow is expected to develop mid-day Sunday and increase in intensity that afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
Significant amounts are unlikely but a period of heavy snow is probable, with around 2 inches possible in Chicago, Waukegan, Joliet and Elgin, the weather service said. Areas in the south suburbs could see less.
Rain may be mixed in with the snow by the evening, and motorists were advised to prepare for possible travel impacts, the weather service said.
But the good news is temperatures Sunday are expected to climb above freezing for the first time since Feb. 4, the weather service said.
Sunday’s high is forecast near 33 degrees, and temps should continue rising in the following days, in what “will feel like a heat wave,” the weather service said.
Temperatures Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday could hit near 40 degrees, according to the weather service.
A whopping 43.5 inches of snow has fallen on O’Hare so far this season, blowing past the total average seasonal snowfall of 36.3 inches, officials said.
In the last three weeks, 34.1 inches of snow fell on O’Hare — the snowiest three-week stretch since the historic snowfall of 1979 of around 39 inches.