UPDATE: Winter weather brings shelf ice advisory in Michigan City

The advisory is warning residents and visitors to stay off the self ice along Lake Michigan's shoreline because it is not solid. The ice is lightweight with air pockets. It is pushed onto and near the beach by wind and wave action. While the formations are attractive, according to the advisory, they are filled with deadly invisible holes.

Residents and travelers in LaPorte County, including the cities of Michigan City and LaPorte, can expect heavy lake effect snow throughout the day and into Thursday evening causing difficult travel conditions and a reduction in visibility.

The NWS expects LaPorte County to receive 3 inches to 6 inches of snow Thursday with localized amounts up to 8 inches.

While the winter storm warning is in effect until 7 a.m. Friday, the NWS has also issued a hazardous weather outlook for LaPorte County, counties to the east in Indiana and in Southwest Michigan, calling for lake effect snow to continue falling through the week and into the weekend, with system snow moving into the area Sunday and Monday.

A winter weather advisory is in effect until midnight Friday for Porter County. According to the NWS website, people can expect lake effect snow showers at times with new snow accumulations of 1 inch to 3 inches in the northeastern portion of the county. Little or no snow is possible across the southwestern portions of Porter County.

The NWS has also issued a hazardous weather outlook for Lake and Porter counties throughout the weekend, forecasting excessive cold risks and system snow moving into the area Sunday and Sunday night.

In addition to the snow, cold wind chills as low as 15 below to 20 below zero are expected and can cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin.

Check back at nwi.com for updates.