CHICAGO — The National Weater Service is predicting up to 2 inches of snow Saturday night.
A light snowfall is likely, with high temperatures between 28 and 32 degrees, the National Weather Service.
The cold snap that's enveloped the city is among the longest the area has seen since 1920, the service said. Only five other weeks has seen longer stretches of sub-40-degree temperatures for this long so early.
The last time Chicago experience such an early freeze was Nov. 9-16, 1996, the service said.
On Saturday, city officials warned residents of the impending cold and discussed the city's preparations for winter. That includes a new-and-improved Plow Tracker website, where Chicagoans can see which city streets have been plowed.
"Last winter, our city confronted some of the most extreme weather we've seen in decades,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “As we brace for this winter, City departments are prepared to clear snow from streets and perform well being checks, but we also ask residents to help prepare for winter, check on their neighbors during extreme temperatures and call for assistance when necessary."
The Department of Streets & Sanitation has 280 plows at the ready.
"The Department of Streets and Sanitation has been preparing for the upcoming winter season since the spring by training drivers and supervisors, preparing the snow removal fleet, and receiving shipments of road salt,” Commissioner Charles Williams said Saturday. “We are ready for this snow season, and our snow removal team is ready to respond quickly and effectively to all winter weather scenarios.”
The city's winter overnight parking ban on arterial streets goes into effect Dec. 1.
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