A “really intense batch of snow” was expected to hit the Chicago area Thursday morning, making things dicey for motorists before turning into rain this afternoon.
Snow is expected to start in the northern suburbs around 8 a.m. before reaching the city, western and southern suburbs an hour later, according to Gino Izzi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
A trace of snow that fell Wednesday evening but it wasn’t measurable, according to the NWS.
A winter weather advisory was put in place at 7 a.m. and a wind advisory will go into effect at 10 a.m. for the city and surrounding suburbs. Two to four inches of snow was possible and wind gusts could reach as high as 50 miles-per-hour, according to the weather service.
“It’s just going to be a really intense batch of snow moving south, snowing probably at the rate of an inch an hour at times with 30 to 40 mile-an-hour winds and pretty awful conditions,” Izzi said.
The storm is expected to last a few hours and snow is expected to turn to rain as the temperature rises above freezing during the afternoon, the weather service said.
Motorists should expect to encounter reduced visibility and slushy roads causing slippery travel, the weather service added.
“If you don’t have to be on the roads later this morning, that’s probably gonna make your life a little bit easier,” Izzi said. “It’s gonna be horrific.”