Rain or snow coming later this week; NWS says stay tuned

Chicago might get a “decent accumulation” of snow later this week, the National Weather Service says. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file)

You might want to have a pair of rain and snow boots handy Friday morning.

A winter storm is making its way toward the city, but depending on which way it tracks, we could get either snow or rain.

“There are two different scenarios that are fighting with each other right now,” said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville.

So stay tuned, he said.

If we do get snow, we could see some “decent accumulations,” Yack said.

The system is expected to arrive late Thursday night or early Friday and continue with rain or snow through Friday afternoon.

Chicago received just 16.8 inches of snow at O’Hare Airport during meteorological winter, which is from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. The average is 29.6 inches, Yack said.

The record, set in the winter of 1978-79, was 76.4 inches.