In anticipation of Friday’s storm system, watches, warnings,
and advisories have been issued across the Midwest.
Early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service issued
a winter weather advisory for much of Chicagoland which extends westward to
include DeKalb and Lee Counties. This advisory goes into effect at 6AM CST no
Friday and is set to expire at 6PM CST Friday evening. A winter storm watch has
also been issued for a large portion of northcentral Illinois as well as a
winter storm warning for much of northcentral Missouri and a sliver of western
Illinois.
This new storm system is actually tied to the winter storm
that came through the Stateline Wednesday evening being attached to Wednesday’s
storm’s cold front. As of Thursday morning, the storm is centered over far
southern Texas bringing heavy snowfall to parts of western Texas. Winter storm
warnings are in effect for the Texas Hill Country and surrounding areas.
This storm system is anticipated to push northeastward toward
the Midwest approaching the Stateline from the south. However, there is still a
good deal of uncertainty with the exact track of the storm and small changes to
the storm’s track can have large effects on the storm’s impact on the Stateline.
It appears the storm will enter the southern Stateline late Friday morning and
filling in through the afternoon. Precipitation will likely begin as a wintry
mix which could include some freezing rain. Through the afternoon and evening, wintry
mix will be replaced by snowfall starting up to northwest and extending southeastward.
The storm should exit the Stateline to the east around, or shortly after,
midnight. A second low pressure system trailing behind the larger storm system
could drop a few flurries on the Stateline through the day on Saturday. Snowfall
totals appear to range from one to around three inches through Friday with perhaps
up to an inch of additional snowfall on Saturday. Higher ice accumulations
should be confined to areas south of the Stateline, but a thin glaze is definitely
possible, especially for areas south of I-88.
