Dangerous wind chills with strong winds expected Wednesday night

A Wind Chill Advisory will go into effect this evening for Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin as winds increase from the Northwest behind a strong Arctic cold front.  Temperatures will drop below zero as skies clear a little through the overnight.  Winds will gust as high as 35-40 mph later this evening and overnight which will cause wind chills to drop as low as -30 degrees!  With those bitter cold wind chills in place, frostbite can happen within 30 minutes to exposed skin.  Those type of chills will last through Thursday morning with temperatures remaining in the low single digits.  So, again, we can't stress enough to make sure you dress appropriately Thursday morning: hats, gloves, scarfs, boats, snow pants, etc.

Another issue for tonight will be blowing and drifting snow.  While the snowfall from today won't be much, the strong wind gusts will cause the current snow on the ground to significantly blow and drift - especially in the open and rural areas.  Blowing and drifting snow will also be likely through the day Thursday.  East/West roads will likely experience the most significant blowing and drifting, but North/South roads will also experience a little as well.