Winter Weather Impacting The QCA This Weekend

It's January 9th and it's about time we had some snow on the ground.

**WINTER WEATHER ALERTS THAT ARE IN EFFECT**

If you plan on traveling on Friday night and anytime on Saturday, I would consider adjusting your plans. Tomorrow (Friday), we will see rain return off and on this afternoon but a cold front will arrive overnight and stall east of the QCA. This could also cause flooding in the southern listening area.

The cold front will set up freezing rain overnight Friday into Saturday, followed up by snow on Saturday afternoon with a lot of wind. Areas that will see significant icing will basically be east of a line from Rockford, IL to Mt Pleasant, IA. Everyone will see freezing rain and sleet before the snow falls causing slick travel.

Here is the basic timing of this storm from what we know now.

THURSDAY PM

• 50% chance of rain starting after 8 p.m.
• Winds decreasing in the overnight and only a low of  34 which means no real freeze setting on the roads.

FRIDAY AM

• Rain starting late morning with an 80% chance of rain.

FRIDAY PM

• Late morning/afternoon rain turns into sleet and ice through the overnight. Roads will become slick and travel will become difficult

SATURDAY AM

• Calm before the storm with some breeze.
• Wind gusts pick up late morning which will bring in the snow for the late morning/afternoon.

SATURDAY PM

• Snow, snow, snow...

Saturday afternoon is when we can expect the bulk of the snow to come down. Several inches of snow are possible which will be accompanied by strong winds. That means we can't count out blizzard conditions in the QCA.

A reminder to get your vehicle prepared for this potentially large snow storm. Make sure you have a blanket, snow scraper, a bag of ice melting salt, plenty of gas, an roadside emergency kit, jumper cables, cellphone charger and any other necessary items to keep you safe.

We will update you as the storm continues to develop.