CHICAGO (WLS) — A winter weather storm moved into the Chicago area Wednesday, bringing a mix of ice and freezing rain that is causing widespread power outages.
A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for northern Cook, Lake, Kane and DeKalb counties until 6 a.m. Thursday.
An Ice Storm Warning has been issued for McHenry County from until 6 a.m. Thursday.
Parts of southern Wisconsin are under an Ice Storm Warning from until noon Thursday.
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ComEd said as of 8;30 p.m., there were almost 105,000 customers without power, and power had been restored to 39,000 customers. Crews are working to restore power to customers as quickly as possible.
Racine County has issued a declaration of emergency because of the weather conditions, with all employees being told to go home. The sheriff’s office is advising people to stay off the roads.
ABC7 Meteorologist Larry Mowry said there is concern about ice accumulation in the far north suburbs, mainly in parts of Lake and McHenry counties.
As of 6 p.m., there have been reports of ice accumulations of .19 inches at Waukegan Airport, .16 inches at DuPage Airport, .15 inches in Wonder Lake and Hampshire, and .10 inches in Schaumburg and Elgin.
In far north Lake County, ice has encased tree limbs, power lines, signs and any other freestanding objects. In Lindenhurst, ice downed a tree limb onto a power line. ComEd was on the scene soon after.
By 6 p.m., power lines in Lake Villa had started to ice up as well.
In Crystal Lake, a huge branch came crashing down, weighed down by the ice buildup from the steady rain all day.
Temperatures have held in the low 30s, and with the warm-ish ground most roads have remained wet and not icy. After sundown, roads may become more severely impacted by ice.
Elsewhere in the Chicago area, heavy rain will be likely with 1 to 2 inches possible. The highest totals will be southeast of the I-55 corridor, and you might even hear some rumbles of thunder.
The first round of precipitation started early Wednesday in the south suburbs, and was expected to expand into the western suburbs and city throughout the morning, primarily as rain. Gusty winds are also expected.
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Some localized flooding is possible due to heavy downpours. The precipitation will taper off later Wednesday evening and mostly end overnight.
By contrast, in downstate Illinois temperatures are in the 70s with a tornado watch in effect, Mowry said.
Crews in McHenry County have prepared for the changing conditions. Trucks loaded up on salt Wednesday morning and hit the ground quickly to prepare for the wet weather.
“We’re going to get trucks out on the street and we’re going to get a light coating of salt down before the temperature drops and then we’ll be here throughout the evening to put salt down as needed,” public works director Ryan McDillon.
The scene was much the same in Huntley, and in Elgin the cars at one dealership were covered with a layer of ice.
“If you’re not sure-footed, you shouldn’t go out today,” advised Elgin resident Bob Selle.
With the mild winter so far, there is plenty of salt to go around too, so crews will work thru the evening to keep the streets from freezing over.
In Crystal Lake, ground temperatures are still relatively warm, but they began salting roads this morning hoping to get ahead of the storm. It’s trickier to deal with weather like today’s than a typical snow storm.
“Freezing rain is worse than snow because the rain dissolves the salt so quickly so we have to be out there more often and put down more material,” said Crystal Lake Public Works Director Mike Magnuson.
In the northern suburbs, many drivers were concerned about the trek to Wisconsin, with even more snow and ice in the forecast.
“We’re not really sure what we’re driving into but it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of snow and a lot of ice the closer we get to the north, so we’re crossing our fingers we don’t have to jump off the freeway and get another hotel,” said driver Justin Johnson.
Temperatures will warm Wednesday night into Thursday, with temps close to 50 degrees Thursday morning before falling again the afternoon.
Friday will be a cold, blustery day with a high of 28 degrees. A few flurries are possible Friday night.
Stick with ABC7Chicago.com and the ABC7 AccuWeather Team for the latest updates on the winter storm.
