Nov. 16--Chicagoans basked in early October temperatures Sunday as the mercury climbed well into the 60s under cloudless skies, closing the books on a mild and unusually sunny first half of November.
The weather will quickly be deteriorating this week, though, as the area endures a bout of heavy rainfall and then the first snow of the season.
Rain will be moving into the city Monday evening as southerly winds deliver moisture straight from the Gulf of Mexico. The heaviest rain will occur Tuesday and Tuesday night, with rainfall totals in many locations expected to approach 2 inches.
Colder air will follow Wednesday night into Thursday as the rain ends, setting the stage for the season's first snowflakes. They may arrive as a mixture of rain and snow this weekend as a weak storm moves through the region.
