Chicago

Winter Weather Advisory Set for Part of Chicago Area as Illinois Braces for Snow

The National Weather Service says snow will reach the Chicago area by Saturday morning

Parts of the Chicago area are under a Winter Weather Advisory Saturday as some locations could see up to 7 inches of snow. 

The advisory is set to expire at 3 a.m. Sunday.

Counties including LaSalle and Kankakee, began at midnight.

Snow totals from 3 to 5+ inches are expected, with the highest amounts to be seen south of I-80. 

In Kendall and Will counties in Illinois and Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana, the advisory began at 6 a.m. and warns of snow totals between 2 and 5 inches. 

On Saturday night, the National Weather Service also added McHenry and Lake counties in Illinois to the advisory, which is set to expire at 3 a.m. Sunday morning. 

Those counties are expected to see anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of snow before the system moves out of the area. 

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Snow is expected to fall around 9 a.m. Saturday and is likely to continue throughout the day, though eventually taper off into light flurries by the evening hours.

The Windy City is expected to get rid of the snow by Sunday morning.

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In the meantime, the National Weather Service advises to take extra precaution while driving, as "roads will increasingly become hazardous."

Most of Illinois is under winter storm warnings and advisories with up to 9 inches of snow forecast for southwestern parts of the state.

The National Weather Service stated that snow was expected to begin around 3 p.m. Friday in southwestern Illinois and spread northeast throughout the evening, reaching the Chicago area by Saturday morning. Snow totals are to taper to the northeast with parts of southwestern Illinois forecast to receive up to 9 inches and the Chicago area expected to get between 2 and 3 inches. 

Dry air to the north of the approaching system is expected to cause a sharp cutoff line, where little to no snow will fall, in areas like Lake and McHenry counties. 

Though models still vary on the predicted snow totals, an amount over one inch in Chicago would mark the first time the area has seen more than an inch of snow since Nov. 26.

Check back for the latest developments in the forecast.

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