Missouri & Illinois Warned About Dangerous Icy Driving Conditions

You would do well to heed the warnings now and prepare for what is likely to be a dangerous drive Wednesday in Missouri and Illinois. Both states will be impacted, but at different times that you need to know about.

One of the warnings I'm now seeing from the National Weather Service in St. Louis, Missouri says that a combination of freezing rain and ice is likely to begin around 3am early Wednesday. They warn that cooler temperatures will mean it will be more likely drivers will see ice forming on roadways with an expected trouble time of 6am until noon.

For many places in Illinois, the icy roads will begin impacting a little later with some parts of the state seeing the worst driving conditions beginning Wednesday afternoon according to the National Weather Service in Chicago.

The exact timing of when the freezing precipitation will turn into just rain is unknown, but not expected until later Wednesday possibly into the late afternoon or early evening. I expect that both Missouri and Illinois will have road crews proactively treating roadways as this wintry system moves through, but don't assume that.

It would be best to avoid travel if you can Wednesday early morning in Missouri. For Illinois, the drive home Wednesday afternoon might be the most treacherous. I'd much rather deal with snow (remind me to tell you about next week) because ice tends to cause the worst accidents with little to no warning.