Winter storm hits northern Illinois

Roads throughout northern Illinois Tuesday morning were starting to see some of the early effects of a snow storm expected to drop up to a foot of snow in some areas.

Much of northern Illinois, including DeKalb, McHenry, Kane, Lake, La Salle, Whiteside, Ogle, Lee, Winnebago and Boone counties, is under a winter storm warning until midnight tonight and could see between 7 to 11 inches of snow.

[ Season’s first big snowfall starts Monday night; northern Illinois could see 7-11 inches ]

Road conditions in DeKalb, Kendall, Will and Bureau counties were the most affected Tuesday morning. The Illinois Department of Transportation is showing roads in those counties as being covered with ice and snow. IDOT was reporting the rest of of northern Illinois was seeing partially covered roads.

[ DeKalb County school, building closures announced due to weather for January 9 ]

Travel could be very difficult on Tuesday. Snow rates are predicted to exceed 1 inch per hour at times, with wind gusts of up to 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The strongest winds are expected Tuesday evening. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility.

Scott Baker, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said that if the next few days aren’t enough to satiate an appetite for winter weather, more could be on its way, The region has another chance of snow Wednesday night into Thursday.

[ Snowstorm: McHenry County expected to take direct hit with Tuesday precipitation ]

Light snow and minor accumulations could hit the area Wednesday night along and north of Interstate 80, the weather service said. Another round of winter weather could hit on Friday into Saturday with the potential for several inches of snow and strong winds.

”Much colder air will spread across the region this weekend and early next week, producing dangerously cold wind chills,” the NWS said. “River ice is expected to rapidly build up on area rivers Sunday into early next week as a much colder arctic airmass moves into the area. This will bring a threat for ice jam-related flooding on area rivers into early next week.”

For the latest Illinois road conditions, go to Getting Around Illinois.