Chicago Weather Alert: The majority of the roads across the state line are largely to totally covered, as reported by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. If you can avoid going somewhere today, do so; if you must go somewhere, give yourself LOTS of additional time to get where you’re going.
Chicago Weather Alert: Until 1 p.m. today, much of the state is under a winter storm warning. The southern Wisconsin counties of Rock and Walworth may have to wait until after 4 p.m. due to the snow track. The National Weather Service has already removed Lee and DeKalb counties from the alert, and they will likely remove other counties before the warning’s expiration date.
Overnight, we saw heavy rain with thunder in some locations before the weather changed to total snow. At this hour, snow showers from a second front are still making their way across the stateline from west of Interstate 39. The morning and early afternoon will be cloudy and snowy. Additional accumulations of up to a few inches are possible, though they won’t be quite as widespread or intense as what we experienced this morning.
The cities in Jo Daviess County have seen the most snow so far today. It was 9.0 inches in Stockton. The fewest reports are coming in from DeKalb County, where rain fell steadily over a longer period of time. They measured 1″ in Genoa. At 6:30 a.m., the station in Rockford recorded a reading of 4.0 inches. At 7 a.m., the Rockford Airport recorded 3.1 inches.
As of 4:30 a.m. throughout the whole stateline, snowfall had reduced visibility to less than two miles. A mile separates Rockford from Freeport, Galena, Monroe, and Janesville, all of which are located north and northwest of Rockford. There is less than two miles of visibility in Sterling, Rochelle, and DeKalb.
Current temperatures are near freezing, but they are expected to rise to the low 40s today. There will be 30-mph wind gusts. The morning’s heavy snowfall is expected to gradually lessen over the day. As clouds break out on Saturday night, temperatures will drop into the mid-20s. The wind will calm down a bit tonight, with gusts of approximately 15 mph.
The temperature will be about 40 degrees for the rest of the weekend, not much different from today. On Sunday, we can expect overcast conditions to prevail. Mixed precipitation is still possible tomorrow, but only slightly so. The below-average temperature trend will persist. The first day of the work week will see temperatures in the forties. Temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the week, with a return to the 50s possible by Friday.
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