How much snow your area sees in the upcoming winter storm may not actually be the totals you end up with as the system comes to an end and there's a reason for that.
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, some areas could end up with significant snow, while others end up with fewer accumulations, and though some of that might be caused by the storm itself, there could be something else at play too -- the wind.
"Some places will look like they got a foot or more of snow because the strong winds deposited 'extra snow' there," NBC 5 Meteorologist Paul Deanno said. "Other places may look like little snow fell because the wind carried much of it away."
Any snow that does fall Thursday night and Friday will likely be mixed with 45-60 mph wind gusts that could make for "blizzard" or "white out" conditions, particularly Friday.
"These conditions can quickly reduce visibility to near zero," Deanno said.
While current predictions show lower totals in parts of the Chicago area than earlier this week, experts say the snow itself is only one part of the dangerous conditions in store.
"This time around, snow amounts aren't the story," the National Weather Service tweeted. "The combination of strong winds + plunging temperatures + falling snow is the problem."
Add to that the fact that wind child temperatures will drop to between -20 and -30 degrees by Friday afternoon, making any time spent outdoor dangerous and bringing the potential for icy road conditions on top of the blowing snow.
"If possible, consider alternate travel plans," the NWS tweeted.
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A winter storm watch begins Thursday morning in McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, LaSalle, Kendall and Grundy counties.
Things will "rapidly" worsen heading into Thursday afternoon, with snow growing more widespread and becoming stronger.
A winter storm watch for Lake, DuPage, Kankakee, Cook and Will counties in Illinois, and Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties in northwest Indiana begins Thursday afternoon, according to the NWS.
The alert warns that "falling and blowing snow may result in white out conditions with zero visibility at times, making travel extremely difficult, if not impossible."
"Power outages will also be possible as a result of strong damaging wind gusts to 55 mph," it states.
Icy roads could add to the hazardous conditions as temperatures rapidly fall.
The winter storm watch is slated to continue through late Friday evening as the storm and potentially "blizzard-like" conditions hold strong.
Forecasts are unclear as to how much snow may actually fall as snow but the snow is expected to begin subsiding overnight.
Early predictions so far indicate the Chicago area could see between 5 and 9 inches of snow, with higher totals possible, especially in northwest Indiana. Some locations could also see lower totals.
The strong winds are expected to linger through Saturday and the dangerously cold wind chills are set to continue through the Christmas holiday.
Difficult travel conditions could linger, particularly in the morning hours Saturday, as blowing and drifting snow remains a concern.
