Unseasonably cold temps to sweep through suburbs Tuesday

Enjoy Monday's mild weather while you can.

The National Weather Service has predicted unseasonably cold temperatures throughout the Chicago area for the rest of the week.

According to the Weather Service's Chicago office, a cold front will sweep across the region on Tuesday and bring cold temperatures through the remainder of the week and into the weekend.

Tuesday's cold front might bring some rain with it that may turn into snow as temperatures drop into the 20s overnight. Wednesday through Saturday will see high temperatures in the low to mid 30s and low temperatures in the teens.

Those afraid that the cold front is a return of the polar vortex of the 2013-2014 winter can rest easy according to Charles Mott, a meteorologist at the Weather Service.

“The cold that is coming is just part of the regular cold air from Alaska,” Mott said. “Just normal cold.”

Last year a southern shift in the polar jet stream that usually keeps arctic air the in the arctic, a jet stream called the polar vortex, plunged the Chicago area into a harsh, grinding winter.

Gino Izzi, meteorologist with NWS, wrote on the Weather Service's website that people have gotten the wrong idea about the polar vortex.

“It is completely normal for a portion of the polar vortex to break off and be displaced well south from time to time,” Izzi wrote. “This has been happening for years and will continue to happen for years to come.”

Izzi also said that harsh, snowy, adverse weather can and does happen even without the southward intrusion of the polar vortex. And, that having the polar vortex swirl down to the Chicago area does not necessarily mean there will be terrible winter weather that comes with it.

So even if this week's cold front was because of the polar vortex, it wouldn't mean a repeat of last winter.

The Weather Service predicts Monday's weather will be breezing and warmer with the high temperature in the mid to upper 50s.