Nearly A Foot Of Snow Possible For Some Parts Of Chicago Area; Blizzard Warning South And East
Updated 02/24/16 - 10:54 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Forecasters expect a winter storm could dump several inches of heavy wet snow on parts of the Chicago area on Wednesday, and produce strong winds that will make for very dangerous travel conditions at times.
Snow had already started falling in Kankakee and northwest Indiana by 6 a.m., as the storm slowly made its way north. By mid-morning, blizzard conditions were being reported across northwest Indiana and the far southern suburbs.
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With snow blowing sideways, cars seemingly disappeared into the grip of the blizzard Wednesday morning on Route 30 in Merrillville, Indiana.
Winds of more than 35 mph caused near whiteout conditions all over portions of northwest Indiana, blowing snow off roofs, and forcing some businesses to close due to the harsh conditions. With gusts approaching 50 mph, facing into the wind became downright painful at times.
Driving was slow, at best. Plow drivers were out early, but it was hard to keep up with the fast-falling and hard-blowing snow.
The heaviest accumulations were expected to be south and east of the city, with amounts dropping off dramatically further north and west of those areas. The storm was expected to move out of the Chicago area by Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Kankakee County and 12 other Illinois counties far south of Chicago; as well as in Lake, Porter, Newton, LaPorte, Jasper, Pulaski, St. Joseph, and six other counties in northwest Indiana. The times for the warning vary by county.
Meantime, a winter storm warning was in effect for Cook and Will counties, and a winter weather advisory was in effect for DuPage, Lake, and Grundy counties.
About 6 to 10 inches of snow were expected in most of northwest Indiana by Thursday morning. Chicago, the near north suburbs, and most southern and southwestern suburbs were expected to get 2 to 5 inches of snow. Most northern and western suburbs were expected to get only 1 to 2 inches of snow.
The Chicago area is on the edge of a massive storm system – about 1,400 miles across – so even a slight shift in the storm can dramatically change what happens around here in terms of snow.
Airlines at O'Hare International Airport had canceled more than 750 flights as of 10:30 a.m., and airlines at Midway International Airport had canceled more than 245 flights, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation was deploying more than 200 snow plows Wednesday morning to keep the main streets plowed and salted when the storm hits.
"We are currently ramping this up to what we call a Phase 2, which is 210 trucks as of right now. We anticipate the storm will intensify this afternoon. About 2:30, we will ramp it up again to a Phase 3, which is about 300 pieces of equipment. So as the storm intensifies, we will intensify our efforts as well," Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams said.
The strong winds from the storm also were producing large waves on Lake Michigan, prompting a lakeshore flood warning from noon Wednesday through 4 a.m. Thursday. Waves could be 10 to 14 feet high on the Illinois side of the lake, and up to 20 feet high on Indiana shores, according to the National Weather Service.
