With a dangerous winter storm projected to barrel through the Chicago area, authorities have cautioned commuters against traveling, citing that forthcoming high winds and snowfall will create a hazardous situation.
If you're looking to check on the road conditions during all the commotion, you can do so through maps and reports, traveler information and more using a tool from the Illinois Department of Transportation called "Getting Around Illinois."
The tool allows you to look up current Illinois road conditions in a number of ways:
A winter storm warning is in effect throughout the entire Chicago area. It will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday in McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, LaSalle, Kendall and Grundy counties, according to the National Weather Service. The warning will take effect in Lake, DuPage, Kankakee, Cook and Will counties in Illinois at noon and in Lake, Newton and Jasper counties in northwest Indiana starting at 3 p.m.
It will remain in effect across the area until 6 a.m. Saturday.
The storm may bring heavy blowing snow, winds gusting up to 55 mph and wind chills low enough to cause frostbite, with the National Weather Service stressing that road conditions are expected to be "life threatening." The service added that "falling and blowing snow may result in white-out conditions with zero visibility at times, making travel extremely difficult, if not impossible."
Local
While timing of the storm's intensity has fluctuated over the last few days, as of Wednesday afternoon, NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Paul Deanno said the worst of the storm is expected to hit between 8 p.m. Thursday and 12 p.m. Friday, though some locations could see "rapidly deteriorating" travel conditions much earlier in the afternoon.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
The National Weather Service predicts some suburbs northwest, west and southwest of Chicago could see the onset of the wintry system late Thursday morning, with road conditions and visibility quickly becoming dangerous.
Blizzard conditions are possible Thursday afternoon and into Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service, with "brutal" travel conditions anticipated.
