Winter weather alerts are in effect for parts of the Chicago area as snow moves in on Wednesday. 

Gusty snow showers could impact Wednesday morning commuters with slick roadways from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Snow showers will bring brief bursts of reduced visibility and strong winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour. 

The rapidly falling snow was affecting visibility in Park Ridge at 7 a.m. Snow was also falling steadily in downtown Chicago at 7 a.m., but visibility was not tremendously affected.

A ground stop was in effect at O'Hare International Airport until 8:45 a.m. because of the snow.

Alerts are in effect for areas in Northwest Indiana through noon on Thursday. 

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 8 a.m. Wednesday until 9 a.m. Thursday for Porter County, Indiana.

A separate Winter Weather advisory is in effect for southeast and south central Wisconsin — including Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Madison.

For LaPorte County, Indiana, and other parts of northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect until noon Thursday. Heavy lake-effect snow is expected in these areas, with accumulations of 6 inches to a foot.

Locally higher amounts are possible, especially in Berrien County, Michigan, according to the National Weather Service.

Expected snow totals vary widely throughout the area, with only .1 inch in McHenry; .2 inch in DeKalb, Aurora, Joliet, Ottawa, and Morris; .3 inch at O'Hare International Airport, and .6 inch at Midway International Airport and Rensselaer, Indiana. But a total of 1 inch is expected in Gary, while 3.4 inches are expected in Valparaiso, and 6 inches in LaPorte.

For the Chicago area, highs will be in the mid 20s on Wednesday. 

Wind chills will drop to the single digits by Wednesday evening, with gusty winds to make sure those wind chills are felt.