The entire Chicago area was under a winter weather advisory Tuesday as rain and freezing rain that began overnight continues to fall, leading to ice accumulations on roads and highways across the region.
As of 5:15 a.m., NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman reported some parts were seeing just rain, as temperatures wobbled back and forth between a freezing point of 32 degrees. Other areas, including Kane and DeKalb Counties in Illinois and Gary and Valparaiso in Indiana, were seeing steady freezing rain.
"If your area has not been treated, it will be treacherous and dangerous this morning," Roman said. "We've seen some accumulations of ice this morning."
In an alert, the Kane County Sherriff asked residents to "make every effort" to stay off the roads Tuesday morning, as "extremely icy conditions" were expected.
"The Kane County Sheriff’s Office is asking our community to make every effort not to drive this morning due to extremely icy conditions, especially in rural Kane County," the alert said. "We are experiencing many vehicles that have gone off the roadway overnight, numerous tow companies not responding until conditions improve, and plows having to drive backwards just to keep the salt under their tires."
The National Weather Service also warned drivers, saying that roads and untreated sidewalks near and south of I-88 are "ice-covered."
"Be very careful when walking out the door," the NWS said. "Don't trust any shiny surface."
Local
NBC traffic reporter Kye Martin reported several spin-outs and slide-offs Tuesday morning, including on Westbound I-88 in Downers Grove, in Schaumburg at Irving and Roselle and on the Edens Expressway at Touhy.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
According to FlyChicago.com, more than 100 flight cancellations were reported at O'Hare and Midway International Airports.
In Indiana, officials recommended postponing or even canceling travel Tuesday morning due to the slick roads.
"Increase your stopping/following distance and assume that anything that looks wet/shiny is ice," a tweet from the Indiana Department of Transportation said.
As a result of the icy conditions, more than 60 schools across the Chicago area reported closures or moves to e-learning schedules for Tuesday. In some parts, including Kane County, businesses and government offices were closed to the winter weather.
When will the icy conditions end?
According to the NWS, the winter weather advisory will expire at 9 a.m. for counties to the south, and at 12 p.m. in counties to the north, where a brief period of light snow with accumulations of up to one inch was expected to arrive in the later morning hours.
Scattered showers are expected to remain in the afternoon forecast Roman said, followed by fog, which will linger into Wednesday.
By Tuesday evening, the rain is expected to clear out, Roman said.
Showers return Wednesday morning, with another round of wet weather late Wednesday into Thursday.
As the work week wraps up, rain is expected to move out, but clouds will linger, Roman said, keeping things foggy and cloudy through the weekend.
"A dreary and dry end to the week," Roman said.
According to Roman, Tuesday's high temperature is expected to be 36 degrees, which is slightly above average for this time of year. Temperatures will gradually rise as the week continues, eventually reaching into the low 40s by the weekend.
