CHICAGO – Heavy snow began pushing into Great Lakes cities including Chicago and Milwaukee on Thursday in the first winter storm of the season, reducing visibility to a quarter mile during the morning commute.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the winter storm unfolding in the Northeast, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic will occur a week before Thanksgiving and could impact holiday travel. A potential record number of 80 million people According to AAA, they are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home this year.

On Thursday, the National Weather Service in Chicago issued a winter weather advisory for northeastern Illinois.

FOX weather correspondent Robert Ray was in Chicago, where morning commuters faced stormy conditions.

Snowfall increased throughout the morning, reducing visibility in Chicagoland. Between 2 and 4 inches are forecast during the day.

Snow in Chicago on November 21, 2024 during the Thanksgiving winter storm. (Image: Robert Ray/FOX Weather)

(FOX Weather)

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ground stop for O’Hare International Airport until 11:45 a.m. CT due to visibility issues.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center said areas of snow will continue to move southward across northeastern Illinois and into northwestern Indiana.

Southeastern Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, is under a winter weather advisory Thursday through noon CT.

Snowfall rates between 1 and 2 inches per hour and wind gusts up to 45 mph along the Interstate 94 corridor, including Madison, Eastern Dane and Milwaukee counties, are expected to impact travel.

Snowfall outside the National Weather Service Milwaukee office on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

Visibility dropped to between a quarter and a half mile Thursday morning as heavy snow bands moved through West Bend and Sheboygan, according to the National Weather Service in Milwaukee.

The winter storm occurs during Winter Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin.

The NWS office in Milwaukee posted some winter scenes and said it was “aware.”