Dense fog likely, slick spots possible during the morning commute

From one travel headache to another... A Dense Fog Advisory continues for all of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin until 10AM...

Up until this advisory expires, visibility will fluctuate, likely falling to a 1/4 mile or less. 

If you plan to be out on the roads, be sure to give yourself extra time for travel and increase the distance between you and other cars. It's also important to remember to travel through dense fog with your low beams - never your brights. 

The first of two systems will be passing through this morning, bringing the chance for scattered light rain into the mid-day hours. 

At the start, temperatures will be above freezing. However, there could be a spot or two where the air temperature drops to 31 or 32 degrees. If so, this will provide a small opportunity for freezing drizzle or rain before precipitation transitions back to regular rain by the mid-morning hours.

Once rain tapers off, we'll be left under a mostly cloudy sky with temperatures in the upper 30s. As for tonight, same story, different night. 

Clouds hang tight, with fog once again becoming a possibility ahead of Thursday's morning commute. So we'll have to see if the fog will become dense enough for another round of dense fog advisories. 

The stronger of the two systems slides to our east tomorrow, bringing with it a more widespread round of rain during the afternoon and evening. Again, plan on giving yourself extra time for the morning commute while also making sure to take the umbrella with you. Rain will remain likely overnight Thursday into daybreak Friday. Temperatures both Thursday and Friday look to peak in the upper 30s, staying in the upper 30s into the weekend.

Entire Stateline remains under a Dense Fog Advisory

 

The wintry weather from Tuesday morning has moved out but clouds, fog, and even drizzle will persist through much of the evening. Dense fog will develop overnight and that's why we have a Dense Fog Advisory now in place for northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

The weather pattern the next few days will remain active with several storm systems impacting the Midwest and Great Lakes. The next one moves in late Tuesday night and could bring a brief period of light freezing rain before quickly changing over to rain showers Wednesday morning. For most, temperatures will remain above freezing. However, there could be some locations where the air temperature drops to 31 or 32 degrees. If so, the freezing rain may linger a little longer during the morning before transitioning over to all rain mid-morning. The impacts from any freezing rain that may develop should be less than what they were Tuesday morning, but slick conditions on untreated surfaces such as parking lots, sidewalks, and driveways are still possible. Be careful on bridges and overpasses as well.

The rain showers will come to an end by the afternoon as temperatures warm once again into the middle 30s, but areas of drizzle will persist through the evening. We will then see fog redevelop Wednesday night, becoming dense again through Thursday morning.

Rainfall totals Wednesday will add up to a quarter of an inch, with drizzle expected by the afternoon. The next round of rain moves in Thursday with another quarter of an inch. The weather pattern begins to settle down some by the end of the week, but we'll keep the cloud cover around through at least the weekend.

Dense fog follows wintry mix Tuesday night

 

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY has been issued for all of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin beginning 6pm Tuesday and lasting through 10am Wednesday.

Areas of fog have already developed following the wintry mix early Tuesday. The fog will continue to thicken through the rest of the afternoon and evening, with dense fog likely shortly after sunset. This means visibility could fall under a quarter of a mile in some locations through Wednesday morning.

Be sure to give yourself extra time on the roads and increase the distance between you and the car in front of you. Remember to use your low beams - never your brights - and travel with caution through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

It's likely the dense fog will lift by mid-morning Wednesday, but we will still continue with some fog through the afternoon and evening.

  

Freezing rain, wet snow to bring impacts to the morning commute

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY remains in effect for all of northern Illinois until noon. The portion of the advisory that includes our south central Wisconsin areas runs until 2PM.

Currently, precipitation continues to march northward towards the Illinois/Wisconsin border. With regional temperatures sitting close to the freezing mark, this will start out as freezing rain. 

If you plan to be out for the morning commute, make sure to implement extra time into the commute as roads, especially untreated and elevated surfaces will be icy. Also, give yourself enough following and stopping distance to avoid accidents and skidding. Sidewalks and parking lots will also be susceptible to the freezing rain that falls this morning. So please watch your step. 

Again, ice accumulations for those north of I-88 should wind up  at or below a tenth of an inch. The “heaviest” and more impactful ice totals continue to be focused along and south of the interstate. From there, a quick transition to a wintry mix/wet snow is set to occur. Snow may fall for a couple of hours resulting in minor, slushy accumulations. 

Areas along and north of 20 have the best chance for 1"-2" snow totals. Precipitation should taper off during the first few hours of the afternoon, leaving us mostly cloudy. However, a rush of warm air aloft will help bring the potential for evening and overnight dense fog. As of this moment, the National Weather Service doesn't have any dense fog alerts in place for the Stateline. That's something we'll have to monitor once the afternoon arrives. 

Following the conclusion of today's wintry mess, our weather pattern remains somewhat active as we jump into the second half of the week. Another storm system sliding in from the south will bring the chance for scattered freezing rain at first, with a transition to all rain shortly after daybreak. Wednesday's chances should conclude either at or shortly after mid-day, leaving us mostly cloudy once again. 

Winter Weather Advisory issued for freezing rain and snow Monday night/Tuesday morning

 

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY has been issued for all of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin for a combination of freezing drizzle/rain Monday evening and overnight, mixing in with wet snow Tuesday morning.

The start and end times of the advisory vary depending on where you live within the Stateline, but road conditions are likely to become slick through the overnight Monday and into Tuesday morning. This will have some impacts on Tuesday morning's commute.

Freezing drizzle has already been reported across northern Illinois, even though it isn't showing up well on radar. Along with a few viewer reports of freezing drizzle, visibility has also dropped over the last couple of hours. This is a good indication that there is either mist or drizzle occurring in those locations. And with temperatures either at or just below freezing across much of northern Illinois, the drizzle is likely freezing on contact. 

Untreated road surfaces, sidewalks, driveways, bridges, and overpasses are likely to be slick through the evening. After about 9pm/10pm, light freezing rain will begin to work its way north into the region. For the majority of the night the main precipitation type will end up as freezing rain, although some rain showers may try to mix in from the south. 

This will create anywhere from a glaze of ice up to a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation for most, although there could be locally higher amounts to the southeast. The greatest impacts from the freezing rain will occur after 9pm, and last through 9am Tuesday. Around daybreak Tuesday wet snow will also be possible for some, accumulating to a couple inches in a few locations. The highest likelihood of that occurring appears to be for those in southern Wisconsin, far northern and northwest Illinois. This, along with the freezing rain, could make travel rather difficult during the morning commute. 

Most of the wintry precipitation will be ending around Noon, with mostly cloudy skies expected during the afternoon and evening. Dense fog will then be possible late Tuesday night into Wednesday with temperatures in the low 30s.   

Wintry mix, freezing rain brings early-week travel impacts

I'm sure a lot of you are saying the same thing I am which is "FINALLY, we are done with the Arctic air". For the time being, this is true as all signs point to much warmer temperatures moving forward. At the same time, old man winter isn't finished playing games with the Stateline just yet.

Two waves of precipitation will be marching through to kick off the work week. Both of which will bring the likelihood for us to see all types of precipitation, including freezing drizzle/rain. 

For the first wave, all of our N. Illinois counties with the exception of Jo-Daviess County will be under a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY until noon today. This is to take into account the likelihood for impacts to the morning commute in the form of icy spots, mainly on untreated and elevated surfaces. 

The second arrives this evening, lasting into the first half of Tuesday. For this, N. Illinois will be placed under a second WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY from midnight - noon Tuesday. 

This round will have a significantly higher shot at encountering freezing rain, mainly from late this evening into early Tuesday morning. In between both rounds will be a lull in precipitation, maybe patchy freezing drizzle from time to time.

Accumulations before the changeover to a wintry mix will range from a glaze to 0.10" across much of N. Illinois and S. Wisconsin. Higher ice accumulations up to 0.25" can be expected south and east of I-88. This is enough for windshields to become coated, bridges to become slick, and a light coating of ice will to be possible on trees. 

 

Once ice accumulations get over the 0.25" mark, trees will sag or even break, roads will be icy, and even sporadic power outages will be possible. 

Precipitation remains in the form of a wintry mix into mid-morning Tuesday, with chances decreasing into the afternoon. Highest impacts will be felt during the morning commute, so plan on extra, extra time and take it slow while traveling.

Slippery travel, sub-zero wind chills likely for Friday morning's commute

The Stateline saw another round of light and powdery snow overnight, enough to create more headaches for those traveling during the early morning hours. 

Even though we saw the conclusion of our snow chances well ahead of the morning commute, winds will remain quite strong Friday morning. Considering the dry nature of the snow and the fact that gusts could peak around 30 mph, blowing and drifting will be a big concern. Especially for those morning commuters that travel in open areas.  

Behind last night's quick-moving system will also be another dose of cold arctic air. One that will drop wind chills well below zero not only this morning, but Saturday and Sunday morning. 

So before you head out the door, make sure to dress appropriately by adding a few extra layers to keep you insulated and warm. These gusty northwesterly winds stay put for Friday afternoon, limiting high temperatures to the upper single-digits. 

Wind chill values look to drop even lower overnight into Saturday morning. For that, the National Weather Service has placed all of northern Illinois as well as Green and Rock County up in S. Wisconsin under a WIND CHILL ADVISORY. 

The portion that includes Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, Lee, and DeKalb County will run from 12AM to 9AM Saturday. Jo-Daviess, Carroll, Stephenson, and Whiteside County will be under said advisory from 3AM to 9AM. Wind chills up until mid-morning could be as low as -25, posing the risk for frostbite within 30 minutes.

An area of high pressure that has ties to the Arctic will inch closer as Saturday progresses. This will likely leave skies sun-filled, with temperatures barely peaking in double-digit figures. 

As this Arctic high pressure system slides overhead, it will bring the core of this frigidly cold air with it. This will allow temperatures and wind chill values to fall well below zero come Sunday morning. 

On a positive note, temperatures by Sunday afternoon will end up close to the 20-degree mark. And the warm up doesn't stop there. Early next week features highs in the low to mid 30s, which if you punch that into a calculator lands 20 to 25 degrees warmer than highs today and Saturday.