Snow, sleet, and freezing rain to bring slippery travel Wednesday

Even with a cool northerly breeze in place Monday, the Rockford Airport still managed to come in above early-February standards. 

In fact, Monday marked Rockford's 10th above average day in a row. This stretch will likely come to an end today as even cooler air settles in behind yesterday's frontal passage. 

 

Tuesday begins with a good deal of sun, though cloud cover will filter in after midday. With winds remaining breezy out of the north and northeast, afternoon highs will struggle greatly, reaching the mid 20s. Wind chills will remain in the teens. Clouds will continue to blanket our skies tonight into Wednesday morning, with temperatures only falling a few degrees from our afternoon highs.

While dry conditions aim to persist during the first half of our Wednesday, a system sliding in will bring the growing concerns of some impactful weather by Wednesday evening's commute. Out ahead of the main wave of precipitation, we'll see the chance for scattered light snow showers shortly after the midday hours. Not too long after, temperatures will be sitting very close to the 32-degree mark, allowing for a changeover to a scattered wintry mix which could consist of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.

As a reminder, freezing rain consists on supercooled water droplet that have the ability to instantly freeze on contact with any surface. I will say, forecast models have backed off some of the higher ice accumulations that they were displaying earlier in the week. However, most of the area looks to pick up a tenth of an inch or less, which would still be enough for slippery conditions to develop. Use caution while out on the roads Wednesday evening, Wednesday night, and Thursday morning.

Conditions quiet down but stay breezy for Thursday, with afternoon highs peaking around the 40° mark. Not too long after will we have to monitor another opportunity for wintry weather, primarily late Friday night into Saturday afternoon.