Several Inches Of Snow For Illinois? It's Possible

ILLINOIS — The National Weather Service continues to track a winter storm that could bring several inches of snow to the Chicago area, but uncertainty of the track of the storm — and how much snow it could bring — remains high.

The weather service said on its Twitter that there is a "potential for accumulating snow and wintry impacts" on Friday.

There are two scenarios for Friday's forecast, a "northern scenario" and a "southern scenario," according to the weather service.

In the northern scenario, accumulating snowfall would mainly be across northwest Illinois, the weather service said. In the southern scenario, rain would change to snow, and accumulating snowfall would shift more south.

The weather service said snow accumulations will likely happen in a narrow zone, since temperatures will be mild in the low 30s. Snow would be wet and heavy, the weather service said.

AccuWeather gave a prediction of 6 to 10 inches of snow for Joliet on Friday. The private forecaster gave a 35 percent chance for 6 to 10 inches of snow, 23 percent for 10 to 15 inches, and 22 percent probability for 3 to 6 inches.

According to AccuWeather, there will be "heavy snow in the afternoon" on Friday, with "rapidly worsening travel conditions."