Heavy snow arrives Saturday morning, difficult travel likely

 While Friday was dry and sunny in the Stateline, a winter storm is headed our way, set to bring accumulating snow overnight and throughout all of Saturday. Locally, the Stateline remains dry as of 6PM, but here's what is heading our way! This view from just West of Des Moines, Iowa shows steady snow falling and beginning to stick on main roadways.

Out ahead of this, there is still quite a bit of dry air limiting any precipitation just yet. Even much of Eastern Iowa has yet to see any snow reaching the ground. But as the snow works through the dry air in the low levels, we will begin to see our first flakes reach the ground.

Still looks like snow begins after 12AM for most in the Stateline, with some spots East of I-39 possibly not even seeing initial flakes until after 2-3AM. Snow will begin light at first but will steadily pick up the pace into the early morning hours of Saturday.

By 8-9AM, the heaviest of the snow will be arriving. These heavier bands of snow may be capable of producing up to 1 inch of snow per hour. This will limit visibility and quickly accumulate even on treated surfaces. Southeast wind gusting near 25 miles per hour will cause some blowing and drifting snow as well, only further hampering visibility and travel conditions.

Those heavier bands of snow will persist through the mid-afternoon and even into early evening. At this time, the snow to liquid ratio may be pushing closer to 10:1, which would indicate a slightly heavier and wet snow compared to earlier in the morning. Most intense bands of snow will continue limiting visibility and accumulating on roadways. Winds gusts will remain near 25 mph from the Southeast. Travel is not advised Saturday afternoon. For current road conditions in Illinois, visit Illinois Winter Conditions.

By late evening, snowfall will begin to taper off a bit. Light to steady snow will continue accumulating but not nearly as much as the afternoon window. Most of the snow will then be wrapping up early Sunday morning. But winds will pick up on the back side of this low, flipping things to a Northwest wind for Sunday. More blowing and drifting could remain possible even after the snow has stopped falling.

Below is a recap of all that was written above, highlighting the heaviest snow between 8AM and 5PM Saturday, when snowfall rates may be up to 1" per hour. Travel will remain difficult well into the evening with the continued steady snow and additional blowing and drifting.

Winter storm warnings will go into effect at 12AM for Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll, and Whiteside Counties in Northwestern Illinois and go into effect at 3AM for everyone else. All warnings will run through 6AM Sunday morning. 6-10 inches of snow is still expected area-wide, but regardless of how much snow falls, travel will be very difficult to nearly impossible for much of Saturday. Even the most ambitious snow removal strategies may not be able to keep up with the heavier snow rates, especially Saturday afternoon.

For continued updates, be sure to check back here throughout Saturday for the latest!