Winter Weather Advisory in effect until noon CST Thursday...
Flood Watch in effect from Thursday afternoon through late Thursday night...
Tonight
Rain...freezing rain and sleet. No sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Temperatures nearly steady in the lower 30s. East winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.
Thursday
Rain...freezing rain and sleet in the morning...then rain in the afternoon. No sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Blustery. Highs in the upper 30s. East winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.
Rain in the evening...then rain likely after midnight. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the evening. Blustery. Temperatures nearly steady in the upper 30s. Southeast winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.
Christmas Day
Cloudy. Chance of light rain and light snow in the morning...then a chance of light snow in the afternoon. Blustery. Highs around 40. Then temperatures falling into the lower 30s by evening. South winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
Friday Night
Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of light snow. Lows in the lower 20s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.
Saturday
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of light snow. Highs in the upper 20s.
... Winter Weather Advisory now in effect until noon CST Thursday...
The Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect until noon CST Thursday.
* Timing... a mixture of freezing rain and sleet will continue to move north across the area today and continue through Thursday morning. Temperatures have risen a degree or two across parts of the advisory area... however... little or no additional temperature rises are expected before Thursday morning. As temperatures warm above freezing on Thursday... the precipitation will transition to rain.
* Accumulations... less than a half inch of sleet... and up to a tenth of an inch of additional ice accumulation is expected.
* Hazards... accumulation of ice.
* Impacts... the greatest ice accumulations will be on elevated surfaces... vehicles... and other untreated surfaces. This will make for hazardous travel on untreated roadways.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
A Winter Weather Advisory means that a combination of snow... sleet... or freezing rain will result in slippery roadways and cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for hazardous driving conditions and use caution while traveling.
Areal Flood Watch
Statement as of 2:15 PM EST on December 23, 2009
... Flood Watch remains in effect from Thursday afternoon through late Thursday night...
The Flood Watch continues for
* portions of Illinois and Indiana... including the following areas... in Illinois... Boone... Cook... De Kalb... dupage... Ford... Grundy... Iroquois... Kane... Kankakee... Kendall... La Salle... lake IL... Lee... Livingston... McHenry... Ogle... will and Winnebago. In Indiana... Benton... Jasper... Lake in... Newton and Porter.
* From Thursday afternoon through late Thursday night.
* Rain is expected to become moderate to occasionally heavy Thursday afternoon and night. Total rainfall amounts of 1.5 to 2 inches will be common... .with the potential for local 3 inch rainfall totals by Friday morning.
* Current snow cover ranges from 4 to 8 inches across northwest Illinois to 1 to 3 inches across Northwest Indiana. As the snow melts and moderate to occasional heavy rain develops rapid runoff due to frozen ground conditions will result in significant rises on area rivers... with some rivers possibly reaching or exceeding flood stage. Flooding of low lying and flood prone areas will also be possible.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts.
You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
Record Report
Statement as of 12:36 am CST on December 23, 2009
... Record daily maximum snowfall set at Rockford IL...
A record snowfall of 3.4 inches was set at Rockford IL yesterday... Tuesday December 22nd 2009. This breaks the old record of 3.3 inches set in 1969.
Local Storm Report
12/23/2009 0117 PM
Kankakee, Kankakee County.
Freezing rain e0.10 inch, reported by trained spotter.
0.1 of new ice over the past 4 hours. 0.1 of ice accumulation on trees, vehicles and power lines. Roads and side walks mostly wet.