The season's first serious storm is expected to dump as much as 8 inches of snow on the Chicago area Thursday and Friday, and the National Weather Service says high winds and plunging temperatures could make traveling hazardous.



Snow will start falling sometime Thursday morning, but the brunt of the storm could hit during the evening rush, according to the National Weather Service. Even the morning rush on Friday could be dicey because of plunging temperatures and blowing snow.



The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory in effect from 9 a.m. Thursday until 9 a.m. Friday.



"Strong winds will cause considerable blowing and drifting snow, especially in outlying and open areas. Wind chills are also forecast to drop near zero," the weather service said in the advisory.



"Accumulating snow will likely make travel difficult for the afternoon commute Thursday, with travel conditions possibly becoming treacherous and even dangerous in open areas Thursday night into early Friday morning."



By the time the storm leaves town, most of the Chicago area will be covered with 4 to 8 inches of snow, says weather service meteorologist Jim Allsopp. If the forecast holds, that could be the most snow recorded here since the blizzard last Groundhog's Day, when more than 20 inches fell.



"It'll be light to moderate snow that will last for 24 hours," Allsopp said. "But there'll be a lot of blowing and drifting." Wind gusts of 35 mph are expected -- still way below the 50-plus mph winds that drove last February's blizzard.



Only 1.9 inches of snow has fallen so far this season, and the Chicago area had been on track to break the record for most snowless start to a winter.



According to the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, there was no measurable snow on the ground anywhere across the Midwest as of January 10th. Last year at this time, more than 80 percent of the Midwest had snow cover, with an average depth of more than three inches.



With the snow will come bone-chilling cold. The low Thursday night will be 13 to 17 and the high on Friday only in the lower 20s.