It's not over yet: Colder weather coming next week

If you think you've felt the coldest temperatures this winter season has to offer, unfortunately, weather forecasters say you could be wrong.

Here come more bone-chillingly frigid temperatures, brisk wind chills, and blowing and drifting snow that will make outdoor activity of any kind challenging.

And it's likely we're still a ways away from breaking the back of winter.

“I don't think were done,” said Charles Mott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office based in Romeoville. “Monday and Tuesday have the potential of being the coldest days of the season so far.”

How cold exactly?

Expect high temperatures of minus 1 degree at O'Hare International Airport on Monday and minus 3 degrees on Tuesday, Mott said.

Those are just high temperature readings for the entire day; on Tuesday morning, expect thermometer readings to drop to minus 15 to minus 20 degrees, forecasters say.

The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory starting at 8 a.m. today, running through 6 a.m. Saturday, because of the potential combination of low wind chills, strong winds, and blowing and drifting snow.

Forecasters are calling for the snow's arrival by Friday afternoon, with more significant snowfall expected in the area by evening. Snowfall totals of 1 to 3 inches could accumulate by Saturday morning, with heavier amounts expected closer to the Wisconsin border.

While the actual temperatures this weekend may be in the 20s and 30s, the wind chills may make it feel much worse.

They'll start the day Friday in the minus 15 to minus 25 degree range, then rise to single digits before dropping again and remaining below zero throughout much of the weekend, according to the weather service.

By Tuesday morning, the coldest air of the season could arrive, with wind chills in the minus 30 to minus 40 range.

“The warmest temperatures are going to be (Friday), although it's not going to feel like it,” Mott said.

So far, the average temperature for the month of January is 17.2 degrees, which is 6.7 degrees below normal. Last year at this time, the average temperature for January was 26.6, which was actually 2.8 degrees above normal, Mott said.

In January 2012, it was 30.2 degrees, and in January 2011, it was 20.6 degrees.

“We're a little bit closer to that one,” Mott said.

Cold: Tuesday morning could bring a minus 40 wind chill