An ice storm warning was issued for several counties in the Chicago area, as several others remain under a winter weather warning with accumulation of snow, ice and rain expected to begin the New Year.
The ice storm warning was issued in Kankakee, LaSalle and Grundy counties and remains in effect until 6 p.m. Friday.
According to the alert, it is likely that during the storm there will be “significant frosts, fallen tree tips and light cuts,” which also warns of ice accumulations from a quarter to a third of an inch and wind gusts up to 30 mph.
Travel is “strongly discouraged” during this storm, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, there is a winter weather warning in effect until midnight for DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, Cook and Will counties in Illinois and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. McHenry and Lake counties joined that advisor later Friday morning.
Snow accumulations of up to 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to a tenth of an inch are possible along with 30 mph wind gusts. Depending on the alert, there may also be some accumulation of sleet.
Rainfall is expected to begin Friday morning with either snow or sleet, according to NBC 5 Storm Team meteorologist Paul Deanno. After a cold night, this snow or sleet will cause the roads to slip right away.
An accumulation of ice of 0.10 to 0.25 inches is possible, especially south of Chicago. It is enough for the roads to be very icy and some branches of the trees to fall.
On Friday afternoon it is likely to rain, and the storm will end up as snow, and snow rates will be similar to those seen in the area on Tuesday.
An accumulation of one to three inches of snow is expected in Chicago, with slightly higher totals in the north and west.
A drier pattern begins Saturday afternoon.
In a press release Thursday, ComEd announced it was increasing staff and equipment to respond to any disruptions in the area.
ComEd states that it encourages customers to contact the company immediately if they experience a power outage and take the following precautions:
- If a dropped power line is detected, call ComEd immediately at 1-800-EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661). Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).
- Never approach a downed power line. We always assume that a power line has energy and is extremely dangerous.
- In the event of a shutdown, do not approach ComEd crews working to restore power to ask about restore times. Crews may work on active electrical equipment and the perimeter of the work area may be dangerous. In addition, for the safety of themselves and the public, crews are practicing social distancing.
Customers can also send the word “OUT” to 26633 (COMED) to report an outage.
Illinois Tollway also said it is mobilizing its entire fleet of 196 snowplows and opening its snow operations center in preparation for the storm.
The Tollway urged drivers to “slow down and allow extra time for New Year’s Day trips.”
“Keeping our customers safe is our top priority and we will have teams working continuously throughout this storm to keep driving conditions safe on our roads,” Illinois Tollway CEO Jose Alvarez said in a statement. “We ask drivers to help us protect them by increasing the distance from other vehicles to allow more time to react to unexpected traffic or road conditions. We also want to remind drivers to give up plows and emergency vehicles l ‘extra space they need to do their job’.