We know for sure that by dinner time on Friday, it will be frigid. The strength of the cold air mass is not up for questioning. The question is, when should we start to prepare for icy roads? It depends on a few things, like how warm it gets before the cold front, and the timing of the cold front itself.
Here is a graph of how different weather models depict temperatures on Friday, and how this cold front will affect this region.
There is consensus among model that temperatures will drop below freezing around noon on Friday and continue sinking into the teens.
Models have agreed that the cold front arrives sometime between 8 and 10 AM. Now, with the strength of the cold air being the same among models, what determines the timing of the freeze depends on how warm the air gets earlier Friday Morning OR how far the temperature has to drop to get to freezing. The European model stands out in this aspect, with temperatures 10 degrees cooler then other models at 8 AM (41 instead of 50 degrees). Though not entirely important, it is worth considering that if less warm air gets advected into the region early Friday Morning, then expect freezing to happen faster than the models suggest which could catch travelers on the road off-guard.
I and you should keep an eye on temperatures early Friday morning, if it is in the forties when you wake up expect a fast freeze and keep an eye on the roads out your window. Windy conditions could dry up the roads, however low lying areas on the roads, exit ramps, and on ramps will become icy fast.
Finally, I do expect to see snow Late Friday morning and snow showers through the day and night as this storm's center passes to our north. Rapidly cooling temperatures with wind could support snow to stick and catch travelers off-guard yet again. There will likely be minimal amount of snow, but frigid temperatures could support stickage - keeping a White Christmas possible, yet very unlikely.
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