Snow
File Photo | Photo: Jagrap (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Forecasters say three waves of wintry weather, which will bring snow and slippery travel, are expected through Friday in the northern Illinois area.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a special weather statement for Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Cook, Will, Kane, DeKalb, Ogle, DuPage and Kendall counties.

The NWS said that three waves of winter weather were expected through Friday.

The first wave is a period of snow late Thursday afternoon into early Thursday evening.

The wave will primarily affect areas north of Interstate 80 with the highest chances for up to an inch or so of accumulation near or north of Interstate 90, the NWS said.

Snow will taper off to a snow drizzle or end later Thursday evening.

Projections from the NWS show McHenry County and part of Lake County with a 40-70% chance of one inch of snow or more from 3-9 p.m. Thursday.

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The second wave will be snow showers affecting most of the area after 3 a.m. Friday continuing into the early and mid-morning hours.

The area seeing the highest chance of around an inch or so of snow is from Rockford to the Chicago metro area and into northwest Indiana.

The snow showers are expected to end late Friday morning after 10 a.m. except near the lake.

Projections from the NWS show McHenry County with a more than 70% chance and Lake County with a 40-70% chance of one inch of snow or more from 3-10 a.m. Friday.

The third wave will involve snow showers near the Chicago shore of Lake Michigan late Friday morning and will shift east into northwest Indiana Friday afternoon, continuing Friday evening, the NWS said.

Motorists are recommended to plan ahead for extra travel time due to the winter weather.

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Motorists are also urged to slow down and increase their distance when driving.