Blowing and drifting snow still a concern as snow comes to an end

 

The accumulating snow has come to an end but that doesn't mean we are out of the woods just yet. Falling temperatures and breezy north winds will create their own problems throughout the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

Let's first talk about the temperatures:

A cold breeze from the north will keep temperatures from rising during the day. In fact, those numbers will actually fall into the afternoon.

Already we've had temperatures drop a few degrees from where we started at sunrise. As of 10am, temperatures are currently in the upper teens and low 20s, but wind chills are quickly dropping into the single digits. Both air temperature and wind chill will continue to fall during the day with air temperatures dropping into the single digits by late afternoon and wind chills below zero. Sub-zero wind chills will continue late into the evening before the wind switches to the southeast, bringing chills back above zero early Monday morning.

It'll be cold tonight but a gradual increase in cloud cover will keep us above zero. In fact, we may even be able to squeeze out some flurries through the night and into Monday morning if our cloud depth is thick enough. So, if you can clear the snow this morning because it'll be turning a lot colder here by the late morning and afternoon.

Now let's talk about the wind:

We won't see exceptionally strong wind gusts today but the snow that came down was a light and fluffy snow which means it'll easily blow around. This is also why many locations reported snowfall totals closer to six and seven inches across northern Illinois. Slightly lower snowfall totals were reported north in Wisconsin. The snow also came down in a heavy clip over a few hours period overnight which allowed it to quickly accumulate. But now that the snow is done, blowing and drifting will be our next concern - and already is in some locations.

Road conditions are very slowly beginning to improve but that won't be the case everywhere. North winds around 10-15 mph will occasionally gust 20-25 mph leading to blowing and drifting snow on east/west roads in open and rural areas. There have already been reports of blowing and drifting snow occurring down in Ogle County, and it's likely occurring elsewhere too. This will create slick and dangerous travel in those locations, so please be careful. Wind speeds will come down some as the sun sets tonight, but they will pick back up - this time from the south - Monday afternoon and evening. This could lead to additional blowing and drifting snow as additional snow showers are possible Monday evening with another clipper system. This one will move more north of the state line, but could bring us a quick bout of light snow that may be mixed in with a little freezing drizzle.