A mercurial Mother Nature is alive and well in Chicago as a weather roller coaster is expected over the next 24 hours.Thunderstorms that "pack a punch" and hail are possible from Wednesday afternoon and evening before one to three inches of snow could fall with winds exceeding 45 miles per hour, Bre tt Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. "It's kind of a wild 24 hours of weather coming up." "The whole Chicago metropolitan area will be fair game," Borchardt added. A wind advisory was in place for much of northern Illinois and parts of northwestern Indiana from 11 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, according to the weather service. Additionally, a tornado watch was in effect until 9 p.m. for counties south of Interstate 80 like Will, La Salle and Kankakee, forecasters said. The snow is expected to mix with rain around midnight and become entirely snow around 3 a.m. Thursday as the temperatures — which will hover in the mid-40s until about 10 p.m. when it will drop 10 degrees between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. It will be a chilly morning commute with temperatures around 30 degrees. Borchardt said the snow should end by daybreak. The snow may create some slick spots in the road and reduce visibility due to the high winds, weather officials said. "Take it slow out there on the roads. Leave extra distance between [the driver] and the car in front of them and prepare for extra travel time, especially during the morning commute," Borchardt said. "I know we've had some nice, warm spring days but we're still in the time of year where we have to deal with winter driving." The wild weather pattern comes as Spring begins Thursday. The city usually sees the last snow of the season near the end of March or early April, though there have been instances of snow falling in Chicago in mid-April, according to Borchardt. "It is typical to see snowflakes all the way through the rest of the month," Borchardt said. ...read more read less