Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Special Weather Statement Regarding Thursday's Weather

From the Chicago NWS:

AFTER ANOTHER UNSEASONABLY MILD DAY ON WEDNESDAY...AN ARCTIC FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND BRING AN ABRUPT END TO THE MILD AND DRY WEATHER.


PRECIPITATION WILL START WEDNESDAY NIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SPREAD EAST OVERNIGHT...POSSIBLY STARTING AS A RAIN SNOW MIX BEFORE TRANSITIONING OVER TO ALL SNOW AS TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING.

BY THURSDAY MORNING...TEMPERATURES WILL BE FALLING THROUGH THE 20S...ALONG WITH INCREASING NORTHWEST WINDS. THE COMBINATION OF FALLING SNOW AND WINDS GUSTING UP TO 30 MILES PER HOUR WILL LIKELY LEAD TO A HAZARDOUS MORNING COMMUTE. OCCASIONALLY MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW...IN TANDEM WITH THE GUSTY WINDS...MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO A HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. THE AREA OF SNOW WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EAST THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...BUT THE THURSDAY EVENING COMMUTE WILL LIKELY BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED AS WELL. CURRENT FORECAST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE FOR A WIDESPREAD GREATER THAN 2 INCH SNOWFALL...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS EXPECTED OVER FAR NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...WHERE UP TO 5 INCHES MAY ACCUMULATE.


OVERNIGHT LOWS PLUMMETING TO BETWEEN 10 AND 15 DEGREES ON THURSDAY NIGHT AND WESTERLY WINDS CONTINUING TO GUST TO 25 TO 30 MPH WILL RESULT IN MINIMUM WIND CHILL VALUES OF ROUGHLY 0 TO 5 BELOW ZERO.


FURTHER UPDATES AND REFINEMENTS TO THE FORECAST ARE LIKELY...SO PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL ACROSS THE REGION THURSDAY SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS.

Join Chief Meteorologist Ty Shesky tonight for the latest updates on Thursday's storm

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