March 7th-8th (Thu-Fri) Accumulating Snow Event Update #1

We continue to keep an eye on a storm system that will eventually bring a swath of accumulating snow to portions of Illinois, beginning late tomorrow morning and continuing into overnight hours tomorrow night as it progresses through the Midwest. This will not be a big snow maker but there is the potential for a few inches across the heart of the state.

I dig into the latest details below along with an expected snowfall totals map...

Our weather system this afternoon has come ashore the west coast across portions of California and is not making its way northeast through portions of Nevada, before crossing the Rockies late tonight. It will then move out over the northern and central plains by tomorrow morning. 

You are able to see the track of our system in the loop below as it crests the ridge across the Rockies before turning east and eventually ESE across the northern plains and upper Midwest by tomorrow afternoon and evening. 

Snow will streak eastward into the Midwest overnight tonight and more so tomorrow morning, arriving into portions of the state at that time. Snow will slowly expand in coverage throughout the day and into the evening hours as the system itself slowly arrives from the northwest. Central and northern Illinois will be more than cold enough for snow as you can see below, but places across southern Illinois could see a mix or mainly all rain given temperatures in the mid 30's to low 40's. The loop runs from midnight till till midnight tomorrow night, showing snow still falling over a fairly large area by late tomorrow night. 

The highest snowfall totals will be across portions of central Illinois as outlined both below and on the TAM/expected snowfall totals. This area stands the highest chance to see some localized banding which could end up leading to slightly higher snowfall totals than the current 1-3" that is forecast. 

Here is our latest expected snowfall totals from this system...