The Windy City is braving treacherous weather as snowfall and biting winds grip Chicago and parts of Northwest Indiana, causing hazardous travel conditions and triggering a suite of weather advisories. The National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville IL issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook, warning residents of significant snow in northeast Porter County and an elevated excessive cold risk tonight; lake effect snow is also creating near-blizzard conditions in the area, adding to the woes of Friday morning commuters.
Chicagoans are facing a frigid forecast with today's high peaking at a mere 14 degrees and wind chill values stooping as low as -7, amid scattered snow showers and gusts hitting the 35 mph mark, as per the detailed forecasts. Meanwhile, tonight's plunge to 5 degrees with a 60% chance of snow showers underscores the relentless chill besieging the city, snow showers are expected to continue mainly before midnight adding around an inch of new snow to the already frosted cityscape.
In an interview with NBC Chicago, Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield highlighted the dire situation, "Travel this morning is definitely treacherous for trucks and cars," he said, noting that Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties in Indiana faced some of the worst road conditions, marked by numerous accidents including jackknifed semis, particularly on I-65, and on 80/94 towards Michigan with Fifield adding, "If I could stay at home, I definitely would be, I wouldn't be on these roads."
As the region hunkers down to ride out the snowstorm, the National Weather Service warns of "near-crippling snowfall rates and whiteout conditions at times" with snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour, and furious wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour are expected to make travel "extremely dangerous, if not impossible in spots," despite these brisk conditions with a wind chill advisory for multiple counties is set to take effect at midnight, promising wind chills as low as -25, the forecast hints at a reprieve with NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman saying, "Another blast of arctic air, but then back into the 40s by next week, the weather has been wacky," indicating a possible warm-up after this snowy siege.
