Issued by The National Weather Service
Chicago, IL
5:07 am CST, Sat., Nov. 29, 2008
... FIRST SIGNIFICANT AREA WIDE SNOWFALL EXPECTED TO BEGIN SUNDAY...
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AN AREA OF ENERGY DIGGING SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE WESTERN U.S. THIS MORNING. THIS SUPPORTS COMPUTER GENERATED FORECASTS THAT ARE CONVERGING ON A SCENARIO THAT WILL DEVELOP THIS SYSTEM INTO THE AREAS FIRST SNOWSTORM OF THE SEASON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.
AT THIS TIME... A LOW PRESSURE CENTER IS EXPECTED TO FORM OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY MORNING... THEN INTENSIFY AS IT TRACKS TO NORTHWEST OHIO BY SUNDAY NIGHT... AND TO NEAR DETROIT BY MONDAY MORNING. THIS IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD SNOW ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW IS THEN EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SUNDAY NIGHT... WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF ACCUMULATION LIKELY BY MONDAY MORNING.
PRECISE SNOWFALL ESTIMATES REMAIN PROBLEMATIC AT THIS POINT DUE TO A COUPLE OF FACTORS.
ONE IS THAT HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL BE MILD... WITH READINGS WELL INTO THE 40S. AS CLOUDS THICKEN AND LOWER TONIGHT... SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL NOT DROP THAT QUICKLY... AND WILL BE ABOVE FREEZING AS PRECIPITATION BEGINS SUNDAY MORNING... SO IT IS LIKELY THAT RAIN WILL BE MIXED WITH THE SNOW AT ONSET... THEN CHANGE TO ALL SNOW AS TEMPERATURES LOWER CLOSER TO FREEZING. THIS WILL LIKELY REDUCE ACCUMULATION RATES ON SUNDAY.
ANOTHER FACTOR AFFECTING ACCUMULATION RATES WILL BE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING AS WINDS TURN MORE NORTHEAST TO NORTH AND COLDER AIR IS DRAWN INTO THE SYSTEM... RESULTING IN ENHANCEMENT OF SNOWFALL OFF LAKE MICHIGAN.
REGARDLESS OF TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS... IT IS EXPECTED THAT TRAVELERS RETURNING FROM THE THANKSGIVING
WEEKEND... SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING... WILL ENCOUNTER DETERIORATING WEATHER CONDITIONS... AND THAT MONDAY MORNINGS COMMUTE WILL BE ADVERSELY IMPACTED.
So of course this means 90% of the drivers out on the roads will go into panic mode at the sight of the first snowflake and the idiots
still driving SUV's will blow by everyone at 70 mph, wreaking havoc. Welcome to Chicago!
Personally I couldn't care less since my drive to work takes 10 minutes through mostly side streets.















