Snow has arrived in Chicago! And the first measurable snow of the 2024-2025 season was impressive. According to the National Weather Service’s Chicago office, 2.9 inches of snow fell at O’Hare International Airport.

Temperatures rose above freezing areawide Thursday afternoon and will hold steady or even rise further overnight into Friday morning.

It is, officially, winter: Chicago experienced the first snow of the season yesterday (right on schedule, we might add). Although the slush has mostly dried up by now, we are holding on to images of the city enveloped in white just a few hours ago, as magnificent as ever.

Chicago experiences higher temperatures longer than outlying suburbs due to the urban heat-island effect. Its location next to Lake Michigan’s warm waters explains why the city and nearby suburbs freeze later in the year than their farther-out counterparts.

The Chicago area is seeing its first snow of the season this week, with the heaviest snow expected to impact the region in the mid-to-late morning hours.

A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect until 1 p.m. in the Chicago area. It has been extended until 3 p.m. in Northwest Indiana and Kankakee County.