Good Sunday afternoon.
We are carefully tracking a system that is already producing snow throughout much of Illinois. These initial snow showers will likely put down some light accumulations. Here’s a look at the current radar:
Snow will continue throughout the evening and overnight hours and into Monday. As of now it looks like the heaviest band of snow will be located through central and northeast Illinois overnight and into the morning commute. Here’s a look at the simulated radar from this evening to Tuesday morning. Most areas clear out by mid-day Monday, however, note that even after the main wave passes, residual energy is producing snow showers on the back side late Monday and into early Tuesday especially in Northern Illinois.
Models have continued to trend stronger with this system in part due to a stout low-level jet and frontal forcing. Thus, we have upped the totals especially in northeast Illinois where we believe a band of snow will produce 3 to 5 inches with this system.
Expect moderate snow to impact tomorrow’s morning commute with residual snow showers causing additional problems during the evening commute. Adding insult to injury, winds will likely be sustained at 10-15 MPH tonight and into tomorrow with gusts of 30 MPH. Given this will be a cold, high-ratio event, blowing and drifting snow will likely be a problem. Here’s a look at the simulated winds gusts this evening into tomorrow night:
With a fresh snow pack and clearing skies for much of Illinois, temperatures will drop rapidly on Monday night. Low temperatures will be near 0 in many areas, and models are likely under-doing the cold a little bit. Would not be surprised to see widespread morning lows below zero on Tuesday. Here’s a look at forecasted cloud cover and morning lows on Tuesday. Note how much of Central Illinois clears out late Monday, this will aid in the temperature drop Monday night.
Expect another update around 3 AM CST. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. We will be watching radar and model trends carefully over the next several hours. Have a great Sunday.