It’s freezing now, but northern Illinois could feel up to 90 degrees warmer next week

Although the holiday week’s winter storm brought treacherous road conditions and wind chills well below zero, forecasts show the northern Illinois region could feel 90 degrees warmer by this time next week.

According to the National Weather Service, a warm air front is expected to move in as the month closes out, bringing with it temperatures that could reach 50 degrees, a drastic difference from the Christmas weekend.

“Beginning next week, especially following Christmas Day on Sunday, each day next week is going to be notably warmer than the last,” said Kevin Doom, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Romeoville office. “A real steady warmup. [By the] end of next week, we’ll have well-above-normal temperatures.”

As bitter cold continued throughout Friday and wind chills reached almost 40 degrees below zero in certain areas surrounding Chicago, the change in temperature will feel quite significant heading toward the new year, Doom said.

“We have several areas with wind chills down to about 40 below,” Doom said. “If we do, in fact, hit 50 next week, it will be about a 90-degree difference.”

This week’s winter storm was caused by a fast-moving jet stream that went south, pulling freezing cold air down to the Midwest. Jet streams are the reason for big seasonal temperature swings, he said.

“Next week, it’s going to be the opposite,” Doom said. “The jet stream will be moving up to the north, pulling warm air up from the south. It’s all part of living in the Chicago area.”

The drastic change in temperatures is likely to bring with it another storm, although this time without snow, akin to a common occurrence in warmer months with rain, Doom said. Nothing significant was forecast as of Friday, however.

“There’s not a whole lot of impact, at least as it pertains to shifts in temperature,” Doom said. “As things start to warm up, we’re not expecting anything in the realm of strong-degree storms. We could get some rain though.”

About a year ago, a warm weather stint Dec. 10 brought with it a string of out-of-season tornadoes that tore through five states, killing dozens in Kentucky, four people in Tennessee, two in Arkansas, two in Missouri and six in Illinois, when an Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville was hit by a tornado.

Although warm weather plays an important role in the risk of twisters amid the holiday season, Doom said so far it doesn’t appear that a significant storm is brewing next week.

“I can almost promise [50 degrees] in December is not too uncommon,” Doom said. “Last year, on Christmas Day, it was 55 degrees. Most years we’ll end up seeing our last 50-degree day in December.”

The last time the region saw its final 50-degree day of the season earlier than December occurred in November 2005, according to the National Weather Service.

Warmer temperatures still are a way off, however. Forecasts show temperatures throughout northern Illinois will remain in the minus single digits Friday, with wind chills as low as minus 36 and bitter cold wind gusts as high as 50 mph.

Temperatures on Christmas Eve are expected to be more of the same, with highs in the single digits and widespread blowing snow. Christmas Day will bring with it a high near 10 degrees and a 50% chance of spotty snow showers mainly after 1 a.m. Monday.

Temperatures will begin to creep back up Monday, with highs near 18, while highs will near 23 Tuesday, reaching almost 40 degrees Wednesday and almost 50 Thursday.

“In terms of difficulty for travel, today is really the only concern,” Doom said Friday. “Maybe just light snow, strong winds today. We’ve got a lot of pretty treacherous road conditions. We’re seeing accidents all over the place. Personally, I think people are underestimating the blowing snow. Tomorrow and Sunday, we shouldn’t really see a whole lot of that. The sun will come out Sunday.”