Montana Blizzard, Chicago Winter Storm. NOW?!?!?!?

Red sky in the morning means to take warning. This was the ABC News 7
webcam in Chicago at dawn today. By this afternoon,  this same spot
will likely be seeing a late season snowstorm.

Boy, has the northern tier of the nation taken a giant step backward into winter!!

A compact but pretty wound-up storm is setting off a winter storm of all things in a narrow stripe in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, northern Iowa and northern Illinois, including Chicagoland.

The northern half of the Chicago metro area in particular looks like it's really under the gun. There, three to eight inches of heavy, wet snow is expected to come down later today.

This storm is, of course, weird for Chicago in the heart of spring. The average date for the last one-inch snowfall in Chicago is March 17. This one, if an inch accumulates, will be close to a record. The latest one-inch snow in Chicago on record came on May 3-4, 1907.

Some trees in Chicago are starting to leaf out. That means the heavy, wet snow accumulating on those nascent leaves, and expected gusty winds, will damage a few of those trees.

So yeah, this is pretty unwelcome in the Second City and other areas under the winter storm warning. Some areas could see snowfall rates of one to two inches per hour.

Meanwhile, a separate storm has triggered a blizzard warning of all things in north-central Montana. Two to five inches of late season snow propelled by gusts of 55 mph expected Sunday won't make for   a terrific day there, that's for sure.

Here in Vermont, we're not getting off scot-free, but at least there's no blizzard coming. Rain showers will change to snow showers in the mountains today, leaving behind a dusting to a couple inches way up near the summits by Sunday morning.

That storm from Chicago will weaken as it heads east, but will still drop a cold, light rain Sunday in southern Vermont, with a little snow possible up high.  A hard freeze is likely statewide Sunday night, so if you got ahead of yourself in the garden, protect those plants!

We've also launched ourselves into a long period of colder than normal weather in Vermont that will last more than a week.  Spring is on hiatus for the foreseeable future, I'm afraid.