CHICAGO – The arctic cold front moving through Chicagoland this afternoon will bring scattered snow, strong winds, dropping temperatures and subzero wind chills.

A wind advisory is now in effect for the entire Chicago area for west-northwest winds with gusts up to 45 miles per hour until midnight.

Once the isolated snow begins to fall, the strong winds and falling snow will result in drastically reduced visibility at times. This could impact late afternoon and evening commutes.

Timeline of snow showers

Scattered rain and snow showers will arrive in the northern and northwestern suburbs around 4pm and then move quickly from north to south across the area.

When temperatures drop, any precipitation in the form of rain quickly turns into snow. Brief heavy snow squalls are possible in Chicagoland between approximately 4 and 8 p.m.

Commuters should be aware of rapidly changing road conditions. Heavier bursts of snow can cause roads to quickly become covered in a thin layer of snow. The snow combined with strong winds also results in reduced visibility, which can lead to dangerous travel.

The snow showers will end around 8 or 9 p.m. and the rest of the night will be dominated by cold weather. Air temperatures will drop into the teens this evening, with colder subzero temperatures likely late this evening into Thursday morning.

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Forecast for Thursday

Winds will remain gusty Thursday, with northwest winds blowing during the day with gusts of 25-35 mph. With temperatures only high in the 20s, wind chills won’t rise higher than the mid 10s.

Thursday will be mostly sunny to partly cloudy, with high temperatures in the mid to upper 20s. There will be a few more clouds on Friday and the sky will be partly cloudy during the day. High temperatures remain below normal at around 30 degrees.

At the moment the weekend looks pleasant. Saturday will be partly cloudy with highs around 40 degrees, and by Sunday afternoon we’ll be nearing 50 degrees.

The next chance of precipitation after tonight’s snow showers will be on Monday. There is a chance of rain showers on Monday with highs around 50°C.