Winter Storm Warnings Issued Across the Stateline

Winter storm warnings have been issued across the region in anticipation of this weekend’s impactful storm system.

 

Early Friday morning, the National Weather Service had issued a winter storm watch for the entire Stateline. This watch was later upgraded to a winter storm warning in the afternoon. This warning spreads across all of northern Illinois, far southern Wisconsin, and east-central Iowa. The warning goes into effect Saturday afternoon and is set to expire Sunday afternoon.

 

As of Saturday evening, the strengthening storm is centered over the south-central Plains and works its way eastward. Through the night and into Saturday afternoon, the storm’s center will propagate approximately along I-70 through central Missouri and southern Illinois. The storm’s active northern flank will produce heavy and widespread snowfall as it moves into the Midwest. Precipitation will enter the Stateline from the southwest in the midafternoon likely in the fashion of a wintry mix of rain and snowfall. As the precipitation quickly fills in to the northeast, it will rapidly transition into a wet snowfall. Widespread snowfall is then expected to continue through the remainder of the evening and through the overnight hours. The heaviest of the snowfall is expected to fall through the late evening. Snow coverage will slowly break up through the morning on Sunday, though scattered flurries and snow showers are likely through the afternoon and possibly stretching into the evening.

The majority of the Stateline is expected to receive between 5 and 8 inches of snow through Tuesday with locally higher amounts likely. Areas to the southwest of Winnebago County and to the north of a Monroe-Janesville-Elkhorn line in Wisconsin may see lighter totals. As soon as the snow enters the area, visibility will be greatly reduced and road conditions will rapidly deteriorate. Snowfall rates upwards of 1-2 inches per hour will exacerbate these hazards through the evening. Road conditions are expected to be at their worst through Saturday evening and overnight though will likely remain hazardous through much of Sunday, particularly on rural and neighborhood roads. This expected to be a wet, heavy snow so take it slow while shoveling, shovel small amounts at a time, and take breaks as needed.