Chicago and surrounding areas are preparing for yet another winter storm that could bring more accumulating snow early to mid next week. This comes after a major winter storm last Thursday dumped more than 17 inches of snow across Kansas including 14.2" in Wichita. Chicago matched for its largest snowfall of the season with 2.7" of snow. Many of the same areas that were impacted by the previous winter storm will be impacted by this next storm.
Between Sunday and Monday, an vigorous low pressure area will begin to lift out of the Rockies. As this happens, it will tap into deep gulf moisture similar to what happened with the previous storm system. Snow will overspread the Rockies on Sunday and portions of the Plains (including Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri) on Monday before moving northeast towards the Midwest and the Chicago region on Tuesday.
Details on the next winter storm:
*Timing: Precipitation will begin to fall over areas south of Interstate 80 in the early morning (pre-dawn) hours on Tuesday before overspreading the rest of the metro area during the mid morning to early afternoon hours.
*Accumulation: Snowfall amounts will range from 2 inches southeast to 6 (possibly 7 inches) north and west of Chicago by midnight on Tuesday. In addition to the snow, ice accumulation around 0.10" or slightly more will occur primarily south of Interstate 80.
*Coverage: 100% of the area will see a combination of snow and ice. Areas north of I-80 will see more snow and thus greater snowfall amounts. Areas south of I-80 will mainly see a combination of snow and ice and thus lower snowfall amounts.
*Impacts: The combination of snow and ice will create treacherous road conditions and moderate to major travel delays (air & ground). In addition, wind gust as high as 40 mph could create low visibilities due to blowing and drifting snow. This could result in some power outages.
After Tuesday, the storm system is expected to slow down which means that snow showers will linger through Thursday. Additional snow accumulations on the order of 1-3" is possible between Wednesday and Thursday.
Note: The details provided above are preliminary at this time as the storm system is still in the developing stages over the Rockies and is two days away from reaching the region. Stay tuned for more updates and possible changes!
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