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Snow Could Fall in Chicago Monday Night ... and Accumulate

 Snow could be coming on Monday night.
Snow could be coming on Monday night.
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CHICAGO — Temperatures "typical for mid-December" are guaranteed next week, and the National Weather Service warns that the snowfall Chicago expects to see around the holiday season could tag along, too.

A storm heading Northeast is expected to pass over — or around — the city Monday night, according to Ricky Castro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"If it goes farther north, the snow will be north of the state line. But if it tracks farther south, the potential does exist for snow to fall in Illinois."

More specifically, in Chicago, Castro said.

"The worst-case scenario for people who don't want snow is that, if it tracks a certain way, [snow] could accumulate in part of the Chicago area," Castro said.

Polar Vortex Returning to Chicago?

Even if the snow misses Chicago, next week's weather will still be brutal, Castro said.

"What we do have a pretty high confidence in is that the rest of next week is going to be very cold for mid-November," he said. "We're looking at temperatures that will be more typical for mid-December."

That means highs in the low- to mid-30s during the day every day next week, and lows "in the teens and 20s" at night.

Offering a glimmer of hope, Castro noted that it's "very rare" to see two record-breaking winters back to back.

"That was statistically the coldest December-to-March period since records have been kept in Chicago, so to see something approaching that back to back, while it has happened, is something that's not a likely outcome."

But don't let that leave you daydreaming about a mild end to 2014.

"Even if it's a colder winter, it might not be quite as bad and slightly more bearable," Castro said.

"I'd say that's the best we can hope for."

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