Some airlines are already canceling flights and schools are planning to close early in anticipation of a winter storm that could drop as many as to 8 inches of snow Friday.

Airlines at O'Hare have proactively canceled 280 flights because of the incoming storm as of 7:30 a.m., according to the city's Department of Aviation. No cancellations were reported at Midway Airport and neither airport is experiencing delays.

As of about 8 a.m., more than 30 schools and day care centers, mostly in the northern, northwestern and western suburbs planned to close early or cancel after-school activities, according to a web listing.

Flakes weren't falling yet Downtown, but the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Chicago, DuPage, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties starting at 6 a.m.

Those areas could see between 5 and 8 inches of snow, slightly more than the 6 inches of snow forecasters predicted Wednesday, according to the weather service.

Kendall and Will counties to the south as well as Lake and Porter counties in Indiana won't see as much snow -- only 3 to 6 inches of accumulation, according to the weather service. Those counties are under a winter weather advisory from 9 a.m. until midnight.

The storm will move into our area by mid-morning but the heaviest snowfall will come during the mid-afternoon, just in time to make Friday's afternoon commute “particularly treacherous,â€

After hovering around -30C (-22F) with wind chills at -40C (-40F) for a week, with a little snow, it's going to be +4C (39F) tomorrow, lol  Gotta love Chinooks!

Predicted to be +10C (50F) next Wednesday.