An Ice Storm Warning has been issued for the Chicago area through Wednesday morning, with an icy mix of freezing rain and sleet expected to make road conditions hazardous.
The Ice Storm Warning went into effect in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Lake, McHenry and Will counties at 6 p.m. and is expected to last through 6 a.m. Wednesday. It's the first Ice Storm Warning for the area since 2009, according to NBC Storm Team 5.
A Winter Weather Advisory was also issued from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Wednesday for Kankakee County in Illinois, plus Kenosha County, Wisconsin, as well as Lake and Porter counties in northwest Indiana, where less ice and more rain is expected.
Significant icing is expected for areas mainly along and north of I-80, with ice accumulations between one-tenth to four-tenths of an inch expected. The highest ice amounts look to be along and northwest of a line from Streator to Morris to Joliet to downtown Chicago, Storm Team 5 warned.
Tuesday began breezy, overcast and colder with a light icy mix of sleet and freezing rain expected to develop by late afternoon in far western counties and spreading east across the metro area by evening.
That icy mix will transition to mainly all freezing rain leading to the ice accumulations, potentially leading to significant travel troubles and power outages.
The National Weather Service strongly discouraged travel while the Ice Storm Warning is in effect, as roads will be dangerous.
