Northern Illinois is now under a Winter Storm Warning effective 9:00 a.m. Friday to midnight. The bulk of the precipitation is approaching just west of the Mississippi River at 6:45 a.m. Friday. some outer bands of snow are about to hit our area. Air temperature is 6°F in Arlington Heights at 6:45 a.m. and is expected to rise to 22°F for the high late Friday afternoon. The I-80 corridor south to about Kankakee is now under a Winter Weather Advisory while northern Illinois (including all of Cook County, DuPage County, and Kane County) to the Wisconsin state line is under a Winter Storm Warning. The heaviest snow at a rate of about one inch per hour is expected to occur about 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday.
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
352 AM CST FRI JAN 20 2012
MCHENRY-LAKE IL-KANE-DUPAGE-COOK-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…WOODSTOCK…WAUKEGAN…AURORA…
WHEATON…CHICAGO
352 AM CST FRI JAN 20 2012
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING
TO MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT…
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING
TO MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT.
* TIMING…SNOW WILL DEVELOP DURING THE MID TO LATE MORNING HOURS
AND CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON…ENDING TONIGHT. THE
HEAVIEST SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 8 INCHES CAN BE
EXPECTED.
* HAZARDS…SNOW WILL FALL HEAVILY AT TIMES RESULTING IN REDUCED
VISIBILITIES AND SNOWFALL RATES OF AROUND ONE INCH PER HOUR AT
TIMES.
* IMPACTS…ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED
TRAVEL TIMES…RESULTING IN A PARTICULARLY TREACHEROUS COMMUTE
THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION…VERY COLD TEMPERATURES IN THE
TEENS WILL MAKE SALT LESS EFFECTIVE AND COMBINE WITH HEAVY
SNOWFALL RATES TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR ROAD CREWS TO KEEP ROADS
CLEAR OF SNOW AND ICE. THE SNOW WILL ALSO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT
DISRUPTIONS TO AIR TRAVEL AS WELL.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW
ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN
EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…
FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.