A winter storm watch is in effect for northern and central Illinois and northwest Indiana from late Friday through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

A regional winter storm is expected to move across the lower Great Lakes on Saturday, bringing the potential for heavy snow during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, said Brett Borchardt, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago, Thursday morning.

Forecasters say the first flurries of snow are expected late Friday night, but the most significant snowfall is expected Saturday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. That 12-hour window is when snow is expected to fall the steadiest and where “the majority of the accumulations” are likely to occur on roadways, Borchardt said.

Snow is expected to conti

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