Winter Storm Warning In Effect, Dangerous Travel Thursday into Friday

Winter Storm Warning:

The entire region will be placed under a WINTER STORM WARNING ahead of the highest impacts which aim to begin this afternoon. 

The first wave of scattered snow arrived Wednesday evening, lasting through much of the night. This has quickly resulted in slick and even snow-covered roads for some of our western counties. Mainly back roads and those that have not been treated.

Highest Impacts:

Closer to the mid-morning hours, we can expect snowfall rates to pick up in intensity, giving us a few hour window for accumulations to occur. At the same time, winds will gradually increase. 

Overall, I do think that most of our areas will be able to pick up 2-5″ of heavier snow before the snow comes to an end this evening. With that being said, the long-lasting impacts far outweigh the "how much" factor when it comes this significant winter storm. The combination of both the fresh snow and the rather intense winds will result in extremely difficult travel, especially late this afternoon into Friday evening.

Not only will blowing and drifting snow become a major issue, so will visibility. That is why we have been highly suggesting altering your travel plans if you have any during this specific time frame. You do not want to be stranded out in these harsh to life-threatening conditions. 

As we've seen out to our west, temperatures have been quickly crashing following the passage of this rather strong Arctic front. Expect that to occur today as we go from near 30-degrees this morning to near 0 by late this afternoon. The wind chill department also taking quite the hit as those values will be into the -25° to -35° range by Friday morning. 

Dangerous Cold Settles In:

It is likely that wind chills values will remain in this range all day Friday, all day Saturday, and for the early portions of Christmas day. For that reason, we highly recommend avoiding being outside as frostbite on exposed skin could occur within 10 minutes. 

Please spread the word to your friends, your loved ones, the elderly, and also make sure you're taking necessary precautions to keep your pets safe from this upcoming Arctic blast. Remember, pets are family too! Less clouds and more sunshine is in the works for Christmas Day. However, it's still going to be extremely cold as highs will struggle to get out of the single-digits. It's not until we enter the mid-portions of next week where we see temperatures approach late-December standards.