Heavy snowfall is forecast to hit Chicago late Sunday night into Monday morning.
The National Weather Service said the “intense lake effect” snow will likely start falling between 9 p.m. and midnight near Lake Michigan and spread inland. Roughly 8 to 10 inches of snow could fall between Sunday night and Monday morning, impacting commuters, closing schools, making roads impassible and slowing air travel. A winter storm warning has been issued for Cook County.
The weather service warns it could snow up to 3 inches an hour. “Frequent” thunder and lightning are also forecast. Overall, the weather service predicted 7 to 15 inches of snow for the Chicago area through Tuesday evening.
The snow band could be 10 miles wide, with varying levels of snow depending on location.
Meteorologists urge people to avoid driving and to use caution on the roads as rapid accumulations of snow could make it difficult to keep roads clear, resulting in dangerous to nearly impossible travel conditions.
The weather could further impact air travel Monday and add to the mass cancellation of flights at O’Hare and Midway airports due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s airspace restrictions. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, prior to the snow moving in, O’Hare had 362 cancellations with an average delay of about an hour, and Midway had 25 cancellations and an average of a 44-minute delay.
Let’s talk about the upcoming lake effect snow.
The snow will start between 9PM and 12 AM tonight near Lake Michigan and spread inland. Bands of snow will then park near the IL shoreline Monday morning, and migrate eastward into Indiana Monday afternoon. #ILwx #INwx (1/5) pic.twitter.com/lA8HKC5rSW
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) November 9, 2025