Consistent snowfall through Saturday with dangerous travel conditions

 

Snow showers have become more widespread throughout the morning across the state line, as of 12 a.m. light snow began falling in Rockford, but as we head into the 6 o'clock hour heavier snow showers are now visible on satellite and radar. This is best noted by the dark blue color contours pushing into Freeport. Expect snowfall to continue and even become heavier at times as we head into the afternoon.

As heavier snow showers have moved in, snow has begun to gradually start accumulating on both roadways and other surfaces. The main concern will be driving conditions on roadways with slick conidiations becoming worse towards the afternoon as snowfall continues and becomes a bit heavier with time.

As of 5:15 a.m. road conditions have already quickly deteriorated as well even with only light snow being reported through the morning. Take extra precautions on roadways today and try to avoid travel all together if necessary. For more information on roadway conditions, you can visit Illinois Winter Conditions where timely updates are made through the day.

Back onto snowfall, as seen on Satellite and Radar consistent snow showers are already overhead. Snowfall once again will only continue into the afternoon with heavier rates likely towards 1 p.m. today with snowfall rates up to an inch per hour. Snowfall will last through the evening with lighter showers filtering in by midnight tonight. Flurries will still be possible all the way through 4 a.m. tomorrow.

Although we are expecting higher totals between 6"-10" the good news is that we aren't expecting most of this snow to fall in a short time frame. Expect more consistent snowfall with a few hours in the afternoon bringing in slightly higher rates. Through the next 18-24 hours areas may see totals up to 10" while a few isolated spots in Lee County and Northwest Illinois may see slightly higher totals.

Once again, timing everything out snow showers will continue through 8 a.m. this morning. By the late afternoon and early evening, with the low-pressure system approaching, higher moisture content will allow for heavier snow rates up to 1"/hour. This will also be the most dangerous travel time, so at this time travel should be completely avoided. By the evening hours consistent snowfall will continue with most showers tapering off into the overnight hours and into early tomorrow where a few flurries will still be possible.