While mother nature snarls Chicago area commutes with a mix of rain, snow and slush, you can check the state of the slippery roads through maps and reports of winter road conditions, 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 weather advisory set to bring a period of "heavy, wet snow" that went into effect at 3 a.m. for a wide swath of Wisconsin, along with McHenry and Lake counties in Illinois -- which includes Chicago suburbs of Crystal Lake, Waukegan, Buffalo Grove, Mundelein and Gurnee -- is scheduled to last until 1 p.m., the National Weather Service says.
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For Kenosha County in southeastern Wisconsin, the advisory isn't scheduled to end until 6 p.m. Friday.
According to the NWS, precipitation in some areas began around 5 a.m., and is expected to last until noon. And forecast models show wet snow and low visibility to the north could lead to slushy, slippery roads Friday morning.
Local
Closer to Chicago, a rain and snow mix is expected, while counties to the north can expect to receive accumulations between two and four inches, the NBC 5 Storm Team predicts.
"Bottom line," the NWS said Thursday, ahead of the conditions, "plan for slower than usual travel times."
The good news is, Friday afternoon is expected to be on the drier side, NBC 5 Storm Team says.
According to forecast models, skies will remain mostly cloudy and breezy, with a high temperature of 38 degrees.
The next chance for precipitation will likely arrive Saturday evening, with most of it falling in the form of rain. Some mixed precipitation is possible, especially as temperatures cool into the evening hours. Snow could also fall in some locations, according to NBC 5 Storm Team.
After a few days of mostly cloudy conditions, Tuesday could potentially see the arrival of a much-stronger system, which could hammer the area with locally-heavy downpours. High temperatures are expected to jump into the low-to-mid 50s, making the system a mostly-rain-driven event.
After that system finally moves out of the region on Wednesday, slightly cooler temperatures will likely take hold, with highs diving back into the mid-30s.
