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An ice storm warning has been issued for several counties in the Chicago area, as several others remain under a winter weather advisory with a build-up of snow, ice and rain, all scheduled for the start of the new year .
The ice storm warning has been issued for Kankakee, LaSalle and Grundy counties and remains in effect until 6 p.m. Friday.
“Heavy icing, downed tree branches and power outages” are likely in the storm, according to the alert, which also warns of quarter to one-third inch ice buildups and gusts wind up to 30 mph.
Travel is “strongly discouraged” during this storm, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory is 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 were added to this notice later Friday morning.
Snow accumulations of up to 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to a tenth of an inch are possible with wind gusts of 30 mph. There may also be an accumulation of sleet, depending on the alert.
Precipitation is expected to start Friday morning as snow or sleet, according to NBC 5 Storm Team meteorologist Paul Deanno. After a cold night, this snow or slush will immediately make the roads slippery.
Ice buildup of 0.10 inch to 0.25 inch is possible, particularly south of Chicago. This is enough to make the roads very icy and knock down tree branches.
A shift to rain is likely Friday afternoon, and the storm will end as snow, with snow rates rivaling what the area saw on Tuesday.
A buildup of one to three inches of snow is expected in Chicago, with slightly higher totals to the north and west.
A drier pattern begins on Saturday afternoon.
In a press release Thursday, ComEd said it was increasing staff and equipment to respond to any outages in the region.
ComEd says he encourages customers to contact the company immediately in the event of a power failure and take the following precautions:
- If a failed power line is found, immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661). Spanish speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).
- Never go near a broken power line. Always assume that a power line is live and extremely dangerous.
- In the event of a breakdown, do not approach the ComEd teams working on re-energizing to ask for restoration times. Crews can work on live electrical equipment and the perimeter of the work area can be dangerous. In addition, for their safety and that of the public, crews practice social distancing.
Customers can also send the word “OUT” to 26633 (COMED) to report a failure.
Illinois Tollway also said it was mobilizing its full fleet of 196 snowplows and opening its snow center in preparation for the storm.
The toll urged drivers to “slow down and allow more time for their New Year’s trips.”
“Ensuring the safety of our customers is our top priority and we will have teams that will work around the clock throughout this storm to maintain safe driving conditions on our roads,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director José Alvarez, in a statement. “We’re asking drivers to help us protect them by increasing their distance from other vehicles to give themselves more time to react to unforeseen traffic or road conditions. We also want to remind drivers to give plows and emergency vehicles the extra space they need to do their jobs. “
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