As the upcoming storm starts getting its act together in the Midwest, a major ice storm is looking more and more likely. Snow amounts are looking to be a little lower than what I thought originally. It is looking like a general 2-5 inches for the area followed by a prolonged period of ice Wednesday.

Here’s the time frame for the storm:

10 PM-2 AM – Snow moves in from Southwest

10 AM-2 PM Tuesday – Snow becomes light and turns to a light and spotty wintry mix

2 PM-8 PM Tuesday – Precip ends as we wait for round two

8 PM Tuesday – 11 AM Wednesday – Moderate to heavy freezing rain, significant icing likely

11 AM-4 PM Wednesday – Freezing rain turns to an icy rain and eventually tapers off

The roads will be pretty bad Tuesday morning, but even worse Wednesday as 1/3-2/3 of an inch of ice will fall (to put it in perspective, an inch of ice can shut down whole cities).

Schools: I am thinking that most schools will be delayed Tuesday morning as many roads will be snowcovered for the first part of day. Wednesday I’m thinking closings for any school north of Philadelphia. The roads will be bad (side roads especially), and there will be widespread power outages. I just don’t see how the buses will be able to get around at all on Wednesday.

I will keep you updated as the precipitation starts to fall tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday