(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Some pretty serious winter weather is expected to hit Illinois this weekend, but the Chicago area is likely to escape the worst of it.
Starting around midnight Sunday, a band of snow that could leave as much as six to more than 12 inches of snow is possible across the middle portion of Illinois, including Springfield, with the southern counties of the state getting hit with icing conditions.
The problem, at least this early on, according to the National Weather Service’s Ed Shimon, is that any shift or wiggle in that band could be the difference between an area getting one inch of snow or six or more.
“This whole area is definitely still under the gun of potential wintry weather impacts and some areas, significant impacts in terms of the amount of snow across, maybe, the central portion of this watch area,” he says.
Shimon says blowing and drifting snow is likely as well.
“We are seeing some indications that maybe the northern fringes of this, maybe seeing a little bit less on the snowfall end , and, in the southern portions south of I-70, we’re seeing some uncertainty in [the] amount of freezing rain,” Shimon said.
While it appears the Chicago area will miss out on the heavy snow, residents will still have to combat bitter cold temperatures this weekend and beyond.
With strong winds coming from the northwest, AccuWeather says wind chill levels will drop below zero overnight. High temperatures will struggle to get out of the 20s for the next four days.
WBBM's Staff contributed to this report.
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