After an unusually warm and snowless start to the year, winter finally hit Chicago on Wednesday.
Even with the 3-plus inches of snow, Chicago’s total snowfall this season is 10 inches below average, according to the National Weather Service.
And temperatures have remained stubbornly high for January — 10 degrees higher than usual.
But Wednesday’s snowfall marks an end to a stretch of warm and snowless weather not seen in the city in years.
“We’re in for a pattern change,” said Scott Baker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Romeoville. “To be this warm is pretty rare.”
Jeremy Kiolbassa, 34, a Roscoe Village resident, was not pleased with the morning’s weather, but he was relieved that winter arrived later than expected.
“I have no expectations for Chicago’s weather anymore,” Kiolbassa said. “It seems like the weather is constantly changing; it’s never consistent here.”
O’Hare Airport reported 3.5 inches of snow by noon, and Midway Airport reported 3 inches, according to the Weather Service.
Light snow was expected to fall through the evening. Temperatures will dip into the 20s and teens in the days ahead, and another large snowfall could come Saturday.
Snow began falling about 2 a.m. Wednesday, with the heaviest snowfall in the hours before 7 a.m., according to the weather service. With temperatures hanging around freezing Wednesday, snow was melting into slush on the roads, making driving difficult.
The weather service had predicted up to 4 inches of snow and had issued a winter weather advisory through 6 p.m., but the agency canceled the advisory by 2 p.m. because the snow was no longer affecting travel.
As of 1:20 p.m., 230 flights were canceled at Chicago’s two airports. At O’Hare, 501 flights were delayed; at Midway, 44 fights were delayed, according to the flight-tracking website Flightaware.com.
Nicole Thrasher, 37, of Albany Park, said the snow is long overdue and the weather did not bother her.
“Today feels like Chicago, normal Chicago, but I think it’s to be expected, especially in January,” Thrasher said. “I don’t think longtime Chicagoans would be fazed.”
Chicago’s temperature this month has averaged 35 degrees, well above the usual 25 degrees.
Only three other years in the city’s recorded history had Januarys as warm as this year. January 2006 had an average temperature of 35.8 degrees, Baker said. January 1933 averaged 36.7 degrees. The warmest January on record was in 1880 when Chicago averaged 39.8 degrees.
The season has been relatively snow-free, as well. The city has seen only 8.6 inches of snow this season, well below the usual 18 to 19 inches, Baker said.
The area will enter a stretch of cold weather and regular snowfall through next week, Baker said. The snow will probably stay on the ground as temperatures remain below freezing, he said.
The next chance of heavy snow is Saturday afternoon and evening, but it’s too early to tell how much might fall, Baker said.
