Major Ice Storm Possible Saturday Evening
A winter storm will approach the area on Saturday and Sunday. Snow and ice pellets will begin falling over the area between 4 and 6 PM. This will quickly change to freezing rain as temperatures between 5000 and 12000 feet steadily rise to 50 degrees on south winds of 75 mph above 3000 feet. This freezing rain could fall steadily for 3-6 hours before changing to rain about 2 AM. Worst case scenerio would be 1/2″ of ice on trees and power lines. To complicate, strong southeast winds with gusts to 30 mph could cause major power outages in excess of 24 hours in some areas along with possible telephone service interuptions. With this type of situation, a change in temperature of just 1 or 2 degrees could change the forecast dramatically. So it is still to earlier to pinpoint anything. The area effected by the ice storm would likely be 10-15 miles either side of a line from just south of Rockford to about Waukegan. Areas nearer to the lake would likely change to rain earlier than inland due to the 43 degree lake water.
If an Ice Storm Warning for Saturday is issued, it would likely occur late this afternoon or overnight. The earlier the warning, the more likely the forecast has more certainty.
We will be issueing more postings as needed.
