Thursday’s balmy weather is being accompanied by fog across parts of the Chicago area, with a new dense fog advisory going into effect in parts of northern Illinois.
The new advisory will remain in effect until 9 p.m. for McHenry, Lake, DeKalb and Kane counties, according to the National Weather Service. Other parts of Illinois, including Galena and Rockford, are also under advisories Thursday afternoon.
According to officials, visibility could be reduced to less than a mile in the impacted areas, with some areas experiencing even thicker fog during the evening hours.
The National Weather Service map shows a wide swath of fog advisories across the central United States, with most of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin dealing with diminished visibility on Thursday evening.
Motorists are urged to increase stopping distance and to reduce speeds while driving in foggy conditions, and are encouraged not to use high-beam headlights, as the light can reflect off of fog and reduce visibility further.
Friday will likely see rainfall across the Chicago area, with unseasonably warm weather continuing as highs reach into the upper-40s and low-50s across the region. Saturday could see a chance of rain late in the day, with highs in the low-50s, and Sunday could see more rain in the morning hours, with highs once again well above their averages in the upper-40s.
A slow cooling trend will take place into next week, with highs dipping back toward their seasonal averages by Wednesday and Thursday, according to extended forecast models.
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