Winter storm still on track for Thursday and Friday

QUAD CITIES, Iowa/Ill. (KWQC) -- We have a very active forecast over the next few days. Let’s start with this morning as a few flurries and or patches of freezing drizzle move out north winds will kick in lowering temps from the upper 20s this morning to the low 20s this afternoon. Clouds will move back in tonight and Wednesday ahead of our winter storm.

A FIRST ALERT DAY will go into effect at midnight Thursday morning and continue until at least noon Saturday for a strong winter storm bringing a combination of snow, strong winds creating blizzard conditions and dangerously cold temperatures. Wind chills by Friday morning could be as low as -35°. Here is what we know. Snow will start out on Thursday and come to an end on Friday morning. This will lead to difficult and dangerous travel conditions.

We are confident in several inches of snow (more than 3″). Just how much snow is hard to pin down accurately at this point, due to potential shifts in the track of the storm, as well as the strength.

As of Tuesday morning, there is remarkable agreement on the track of the low pressure, but the strength is still in question. We will have a better idea later this morning and afternoon as we will be sending weather balloons up to sample the system. Current trends have this as a faster moving system which would yield a lower snowfall forecast, but impacts will all remain the same.

Winds will pick up behind the system and gust close to 50mph. This will lead to white conditions and possibly blizzard conditions, regardless of how much snow falls. That’s right, it doesn’t have to be snowing for it to be a blizzard, just strong winds and low visibility for 3 hours or more.

This will most certainly have an impact on all travel leading to delays and cancellations. Start making your plans now.

As if winds and snow wasn’t enough, arctic air will move in leading to lows near 0° to -10° and day time highs 0° to 10°. This also means wind chills will be around -30º Friday morning. Stay tuned for more updates!

TODAY: Partly cloudy. High: 28º. Winds: NW 5-15 mph.

TONIGHT: Increasing clouds. Low: 13º Winds: N 5-15 mph.

TOMORROW: Cloudy. High: 25º.

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