The accumulating snow has been impacting travel on roadways and at Chicago's airports.
Northern suburbs were hit hard, especially in the area along the Edens Expressway.
Multiple weather warnings will be in effect for counties across the area Friday and Saturday.
Winter Storm Warning for intense bursts of lake-effect snow
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for central and southern Cook County until midnight Saturday.
A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for Cook County from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
A Winter Storm Warning will be in effect for Porter and Lake counties in Indiana from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday.
A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for eastern Will County from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Saturday, and again from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for northern and southern LaPorte County from 9 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday.
Snow totals around Chicago area as of 10 p.m. Friday:
- Portage: 4.0 inches
- Merrillville: 4.0 inches
- Chesterton: 4.0 inches
- Morton Grove: 3.7 inches
- Lake Station: 3.7 inches
- O'Hare: 2.5 inches
A ground stop was is in effect at Chicago O'Hare International Airport due to snow or ice, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It was downgraded to a Ground Delay around 3:30 p.m.
Chicago airport cancellations and delays as of 3:45 p.m. Friday:
- O'Hare: 105 cancellations, delays averaging 83 minutes
- Midway: 3 cancellations, delays averaging less than 15 minutes
A deicing truck made contact with the wingtip of American Airlines plane, Flight 2121 from Chicago to Boston, Friday at O'Hare officials said.
"The aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team and the flight will depart shortly on a replacement aircraft," a statement from American Airlines read in part.
No injuries were report.
ABC7 AccuWeather meteorologists said bursts of snow would continue until about 5 p.m. in Illinois, with snow coming down at as much as in inch per-hour. The lake-effect snow could intensify very quickly with little warning.
As of 2:30 p.m. Friday, the most significant lake-effect snow was in Illinois just a few miles inland, from the lake. O'Hare reported heavy snow, and Morton Grove had measured just under 4 inches of accumulation.
The intense and steady snowfall caused slippery roadways and plenty of crashes.
Snow continues in NW Indiana, makes roads dangerous
Along the Edens Expressway at Golf, a car skidded off the road.
In Northbrook, near Sunset Ridge and Midway, a car careened into a pole
There was also a crash at Frankston near Walters that caused a driver to end up in the ditch.
The snow will gradually shift slow eastward on Friday night, with the heaviest amounts falling along and just east of the Illinois/Indiana line. That's why the Winter Storm Warning continues for much of Cook, Porter and Lake, Indiana counties.
Intense bursts of snow could fall at a rate of two to three inches of snow per hour. Snow could also pivot back to Illinois Saturday.
From Friday through Saturday, parts of northwest Indiana near the lake could get 6-10 inches of snow.
Other parts of northwest Indiana and in Illinois along the lakeshore could receive 4-6 inches of snow.
Parts of Cook, eastern Will and Kankakee counties could receive 2-4 inches of snow, and the western suburbs could get 1-2 inches of snow.
No big storms heading our way for next week, but there will be plenty of clouds and occasional flurries and snow showers, Schwarz said. While not as cold as the past two weeks, temperatures will still average slightly below normal.