A Blizzard Warning has been issued in the northern counties of the state through this evening into the early morning hours. A Winter Weather Advisory has also be issued for the counties along the US Hwy 30 corridor and in the eastern counties of the state through the evening and overnight hours. Strong northwesterly winds will be blowing through the state the rest of the day and into tonight bringing with it, ground blizzard conditions. Visibility will be reduced to near 0 in many rural open areas across the northern counties of the state. This will lead to hazardous travel conditions. If you don’t have to be out tonight, best advice would be to stay at home. Along with the strong winds and blowing snow, temperatures will be dropping tonight as well. This will lead to wind chills plummeting back below zero once again. This will lead to dangerous conditions for those that will be outside for any length of time. Very little accumulating snow will be seen with this system as most of that has either moved out of the area or is in the process of moving out now. This will be a GROUND BLIZZARD event.

What is a Ground Blizzard? A Ground Blizzard is when you have winds up over 35-40mph sustained with blowing snow AND no snow is falling. This would create the feeling that it is snowing when no snow is actually falling. During some events, the sun could be shining and it is clear, but if the winds are high and the snow is blowing around, you can still get ground blizzard conditions even if the skies are clear.

The winds will begin to lessen as we head into the morning hours on Friday, however blowing snow may still be an issue into the first part of Friday as well. Be aware of it as you are driving around on the morning commute. Stay safe and warm.