DOWNTOWN — Large clumps of snow fell early Wednesday, marking the first snowfall of the season for Chicago.
And it’s right on schedule: Though it might feel a bit early (especially because everyone’s excited to go trick-or-treating Thursday), Chicago typically gets its first trace of snow on Oct. 30.
“It’s not unheard of,” said Jake Petr, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Wednesday morning’s snow didn’t “stick too much on the ground,” though there were “large snowflakes,” Petr said.
But more snow is coming: It’s possible snow will fall throughout the day Thursday, though it likely won’t stick much and there shouldn’t be too much in the city, Petr said. Chicago could see anywhere from a “trace” of snow to 1 inch.
Temperatures have dipped, too. Wednesday will have a high of 40-42 degrees, and that’ll fall to as low as 38 degrees during the night.
Thursday will only get as warm as 40 degrees, Petr said, and it’ll get “quite chilly” into the night and on Friday morning with lows of 25-27 degrees expected.
The earliest the city has gotten a trace of snow is Sept. 25, which happened in 1942. The earliest Chicago has gotten a measurable amount of snow — meaning .1 inch or more — happened Oct. 12, 2006.
Luckily, it should still be a while before Chicago gets a real snowstorm: The normal first date for an inch or more of snow is Dec. 7.
