If the forecasters are right – the outlook is anything but certain – then St. Patrick’s Day won’t be very green. Anyone who hoped we were done with snow might not have the luck of the Irish.

The National Weather Service in Chicago said Friday that residents of northern Illinois definitely should brace for wind, bitter cold, and, most concerning, the potential for another round of severe weather.

Kevin Birk, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Romeoville, said rain is forecast on a rather warm Sunday (projected daytime high: 61 degrees) followed by a much colder and windier Monday (projected high: 36 degrees) that could bring snow.

“There will be a return to winter,” Birk said ruefully.

What Birk and his peers don’t yet know is how much snow is coming. While a strong cold front will follow the Sunday rain, forecasters aren’t sure how quickly it will arrive and therefore can’t say how much rain will be converted to snow.

The good news is Chicago and the collar counties are less likely to get snow – Birk estimated 1 to 4 inches – than Rockford, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, which could see 7 inches or higher.

Bureau and Whiteside counties have been placed under a Winter Storm Watch to last Sunday evening through Monday evening.

The bad news is the cold front will not arrive slowly and gently – “It’s a very, very strong system,” Birk said – but with wind gusts up to 40 mph or higher. Northern Illinois residents are urged to keep the weather radios handy on Sunday in case we see another bout of severe weather.

That forecast didn’t make Fred Moore very happy. Moore is director of the La Salle County Emergency Management Agency, and, to his chagrin, he unveiled the county’s mobile command center on Tuesday, mere hours before his and neighboring counties were besieged with severe weather warnings.

Moore said Friday the short-term outlook isn’t as worrisome as Tuesday, though he encouraged all residents to be vigilant and attuned to weather reports. The potential for severe weather, he said, is “significantly reduced” from Tuesday and more likely to impact the Interstate 55 rather than the Interstate 80 corridor.

“We’re looking at more of a wind event than any tornado event,” Moore said.

Nobody relishes more severe weather, but Sunday’s rain will be welcome. Except for DuPage and most of Cook County, nearly every Illinois county needs precipitation.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, updated Thursday, shows “abnormally dry” conditions across the suburbs and moderate to severe drought across the rest of northern Illinois. True, that update was computed before Tuesday’s storms – meaning the March 19 update could show improved conditions – but farmers need more help.

“We need more rain to get the sub moisture built back up,” said Steve Michelini, who farms in La Salle, Bureau, Putnam, and Marshall counties. “We have enough moisture to get the crop in the ground and get going, so we’re not worried about that now, but we need to continue to have moisture.”