High winds, dropping temperatures, and snow have arrived.
“Really, the impacts are going to be significant on those roads,” said Ed Shimon, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Lincoln, during a midday briefing Thursday. “It’s going to be tough to keep them clear with the winds blowing any amount of snow.
“And there’s going to be higher snow totals to the northwest, so some of that snow actually is going to start to blow towards central Illinois. With winds that strong wind could go across open areas for miles and miles. We could have some snow that didn’t fall here end up here, which makes it more difficult to measure as well, because you’re getting snow movement instead of snow falling.”
Shimon says the dangerous conditions – including the possibility of frostbite within a half hour – are expected through Saturday.