No Snow: Chicago sees no measurable autumn snow for 1st time

CHICAGO (AP) - For the first time on record, Chicago has gone through an entire fall season without receiving a single measurable snowfall.

Tuesday's winter solstice passed without Chicago receiving a measurable snowfall during the fall season, the National Weather Service said. The previous date for the latest measurable snow in Chicago was Dec. 20, 2012, the weather service said.

While some areas have seen trace amounts of snow, measurable snow is defined by at least a tenth of an inch on the ground, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Temperatures in Chicago are expected to climb into the weekend, with forecast highs in the 50s on Friday and 45 on Christmas Day on Saturday, the weather service said.

A recently analysis of 40 years of U.S. snow measurements on December 25 shows that less of the country now has snow for Christmas than in the 1980s. That trend is especially true in a belt across the nation's midsection.

If no measurable snow falls in Chicago by the end of the year, the city will break another record: The longest stretch of days without it.

The city was at 280 days on Tuesday without measurable snow, while the record is a 290 days without measurable snow, also set in 2012, the weather service said.

The Chicago metropolitan area typically gets its first measurable snow around Nov. 18.