Several inches of snow possible this weekend, winter weather advisory issued

As the Chicago area continues to battle extremely cold conditions and wind chills well below zero, another blast of winter weather will likely worsen conditions. A round of accumulating snow is expected this weekend, delivering up to five inches of snow in some communities.

A winter weather advisory takes effect at 6 p.m. for Cook, Will, Lake DuPage, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy and Kankakee counties in Illinois, along with Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties in northwest Indiana, according to the National Weather Service.

A round of snow is slated to begin Saturday evening and last through Sunday afternoon. The greatest totals are expected east of Interstate 55 and within a few miles of Lake Michigan, while lower amounts are likely across northwestern portions of La Salle, Kendall, and DuPage counties, as well as western parts of Lake and northern Cook counties.

Light snow will begin spreading across the area in the evening, ahead of a plume of lake-effect snow that will finally makes its way toward our side of Lake Michigan overnight, NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Pete Sack explained.

Snow will then become widespread overnight.

Amid the snowfall, temperatures will only reach six degrees early Sunday morning. Winds out of the north at between 8 to 16 miles per hour will keep wind chills below zero, Sack said.

The NWS is warning of “a prolonged period of accumulating fluffy snow,” explaining that even a light coating in such conditions can lead to slick roads.

As a result, drivers should take their time, slow down and use caution, meteorologists insisted.

Snow will likely fall at its heaviest around 10 a.m., especially along the lakefront, where lake-effect snow will likely enhance snow totals, Sack said.

By 2 p.m., activity will start to wind its way down across most of the region.

However, lake-effect snow will continue for northwest Indiana through around 6 p.m.

Here’s what to expect as far as snowfall totals:

Morning

• O’Hare – 1.1 inches
• Waukegan – 0.3 inches
• Kankakee – 2.8 inches
• Valparaiso, Indiana – 2.2 inches

6 p.m. Sunday

• O’Hare – 3.8 inches
• Waukegan – 1.8 inches
• Kankakee – 5.7 inches
• Valparaiso, Indiana – 5.3 inches

Before snow arrives, brutally cold conditions will persist.

Wind chill values will remain below zero on Saturday morning before easing slightly. Before sunrise, the feels-like temperature plummeted to -29 degrees at O’Hare Airport, while the air temperature dropped to -10.

Wind chills will likely climb to around -4 degrees by noon and reach around 2 degrees by 1 p.m., Sack said. Air temperatures will climb above the zero mark, with highs expected around 8 degrees.

Sunday will continue a similar pattern, though conditions will be less extreme than earlier this week.

Wind chills will likely reach up to negative 7 degrees overnight and slightly improve to negative 5 by 10 a.m., Sack said. Overall, a high of 16 degrees is expected.

Then, on Monday morning, the extreme cold is poised to return.

Wind chills are expected to reach around -20 degrees by 7 a.m., Sack said. Despite sunshine, very cold conditions are likely – highs will only climb to around 10 degrees.