An ice storm alert has been issued for several counties in the Chicago area, as several others remain under a winter weather warning with snow, ice and rain accumulated for the start of the New Year.
The ice storm alert was issued for Kankakee, LaSalle and Grundy counties and remains in effect until 6pm on Friday.
“Significant ice, fallen tree branches and power outages” are likely in the storm, according to the alert, which also warns of ice accumulation from a quarter to a third of an inch and gusts of wind up to 30 mph .
Traveling is “strongly discouraged” during this storm, according to the National Meteorological Service.
Meanwhile, a winter weather alert 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 on Friday morning.
Snow accumulations up to 3 inches and ice accumulations up to a tenth of an inch are possible together with gusts of 30 mph. There may also be some hail buildup, according to the warning.
Precipitation is expected to start on Friday morning like snow or hail, according to NBC 5 Storm meteorologist Paul Deanno. After a cold night, snow or hail immediately makes the roads slippery.
The accumulation of ice from 0.10 to 0.25 inches is possible, especially south of Chicago. This is enough to make the roads very cold and cut down some tree branches.
There is likely to be a shift to rain on Friday afternoon, and the storm will end in snow, with snow rates rivaling those in the region on Tuesday.
The accumulation of one to three inches of snow is expected in Chicago, with slightly higher totals in the north and west.
A drier pattern starts on Saturday afternoon.
In a press release on Thursday, ComEd announced it would increase staff and equipment to respond to any disruptions in the area.
ComEd says it is encouraging customers to contact the company immediately if they experience a power outage and take the following precautions:
- If an inoperable power line is detected, 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 approach a fallen power line. Always assume that a power line is energized and is extremely dangerous.
- In the event of an outage, do not approach the ComEd teams that are working to restore power to ask about the restoration times. Crews may be working on live electrical equipment and the perimeter of the work area can be dangerous. In addition, for the safety of themselves and the public, crews are practicing social detachment.
Customers can also send a text message with the word “OUT” to 26633 (COMED) to report an outage.
Illinois Tollway also said it is mobilizing its full fleet of 196 snowplows and opening its snow operations center in preparation for the storm.
Tollway asked drivers to “slow down and allow more time for New Year’s trips”.
“Keeping our customers safe is our top priority and we will have teams working continuously during this storm to keep driving conditions safe on our roads,” said Illinois Tollway executive director José Alvarez in a statement. “We are asking drivers to help us protect them by increasing their distance from other vehicles so that they have more time to react to unexpected traffic or highway conditions. We also want to remind drivers to give plows and emergency vehicles the extra space they need to do their jobs ”.