Brief burst of snows of snow possible Saturday, intense chill guaranteed

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Just when you thought we had seen the coldest temperatures of this lengthy cold spell Friday, wait until you see what’s ahead Saturday.

Sure, Friday’s middle and upper 20s were no picnic, nor were the wind chills in the teens and single digits. Unfortunately, it’s likely that before Saturday comes to a close, we’ll have easily gone below both of those benchmarks.

Clouds overnight Friday should keep temperatures from bottoming out all that much. Still, we’ll wake up Saturday to temperatures in the middle teens and wind chills in the single digits.

We'll wake up to single digit wind chills Saturday morning.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

A cold front’s approach and eventual passage Saturday will usher in even more changes, first in the form of snow showers, followed by yet another rapid downturn in both temperatures and wind chills.

Regarding the snow, it’s hardly a guarantee to occur, but if it does, it’d likely produce brief bursts of heavy snow along with dramatically reduced visibilities due to the gusty winds still in tow. It could produce near whiteout conditions for several minutes, much as was the case for a time Thursday. Still, accumulations, if any, are to be on the very, very low side.

A few brief bursts of snow are possible late Saturday morning.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Ahead of the front, winds are to realign to the southwest, albeit briefly, allowing temperatures to reach back into the middle 20s, and wind chills may briefly rise into the teens.

At best, wind chills will be in the lower teens for a brief amount of time Saturday.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Behind the front, though, winds lock back in out of the northwest, and could gust as high as 40mph, sending both temperatures and wind chills crashing. By late afternoon or early evening, it’s likely at least one or two spots will already be seeing wind chills dropping below 0°.

A bit of sunshine isn't out of the question late Saturday.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Chills are to begin to fall below 0° by early Saturday evening.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

As skies clear Saturday evening, temperatures will drop even more expeditiously, and wind chills will follow suit. By late Saturday evening, we’re all likely to see sub-zero wind chills, with one or two spots potentially going as low as -10°.

Skies will clear allowing for temperatures to fall even more quickly Saturday night.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

All of us will have sub-zero chills Saturday evening and overnight.(Mark Henderson, WIFR)

Now, for some positive news. Sunshine’s due back on Sunday, and winds are to return to the southwest, marking the arrival of at least some subtle relief. While not warm by any means, Sunday’s 36° high temperature underneath sunny skies will undoubtedly feel quite nice.