Chicago weather: Slick roads expected amid patchy freezing drizzle, light snow or flurries on Sunday
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Chicago and surrounding counties from Saturday morning until Sunday morning.
Slick roads are expected Sunday due to patchy freezing drizzle and light snow or flurries. The National Weather Service advised drivers to slow down and use caution while traveling.
The Winter Weather Advisory was in effect for Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry, Ogle, Lee and Winnebago counties from 9 a.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday.
A Winter Storm Warning was in place for Wisconsin's Milwaukee, Rock, Walworth, Racine, Kenosha and Ozaukee counties until 6 a.m. Sunday.
A Winter Storm Warning was also in effect for Lake, Boone, Winnebago and McHenry counties until 3 a.m. Sunday.
While isolated snow showers and quick bursts of snow persisted through Friday afternoon and evening, complicated by gusting winds blowing snow around, a more sustained snowstorm moved into the area Saturday morning.
Most parts of the area saw snow develop in the midday to afternoon hours, but the heaviest snowfalls arrived Saturday evening, said ABC7 Chicago Meteorologist Greg Dutra.
The heaviest snow fell around 1 a.m. Sunday with it beginning to diminish around 3 a.m., ABC7 Chicago Meteorologist Phil Schwarz added.
There was a sharp cutoff of snowfall around Interstate 88, with Winfield seeing only 1.3 inches of snow, but zero snowfall reported at NWS Chicago-Romeoville, Dutra said.
The city saw between 2 to 4 inches of snow. Snow totals ranged from 0 to 2 inches south of the city and 3 to 6 inches north, Dutra said.
The northwest suburbs were hit hard Saturday night with the snowfall just relentless on the roads.
Area snowfall totals
- Woodstock: 8.3 inches
- Hebron: 7.3 inches
- Genoa: 7.2 inches
- Lake Villa: 7 inches
- Bull Valley: 6.8 inches
- Fox Lake Hills: 6.5 inches
- Spring Grove: 6 inches
- Marengo: 5.3 inches
- Buffalo Grove: 5.2 inches
- Algonquin: 5 inches
- Lakewood: 4.9 inches
- Hoffman Estates: 3.5 inches
- Glen Ellyn: 3 inches
- O'Hare: 2.3 inches
- Winfield: 1.33 inches
- Aurora: 1 inch
Several spinouts, crashes, and piles of snow make driving conditions difficult.
All day Saturday, the Department of Public Works in Algonquin hit the roads, then hit them again.
"You can take a loop, you plow and you come back and it's already covered again," said Mike Reif, fleet manager for Algonquin Dept. of Public Works.
The snowfall was steadfast in the northern and western suburbs throughout the day, and is expected to continue overnight.
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"We started about noon. We'll probably be here until tomorrow morning I would imagine," Reif, said.
In Fox Lake, the heavy snowfall - which was rapid at times -- dropped several inches starting at 10 a.m. and falling throughout the afternoon Saturday.
It was a similar scene in Lincolnshire, with near white out conditions.
In Gurnee, video captured a two-car crash; and in Wadsworth on I-94, a car lost control and hit a light pole, knocking it down.
"The number of crashes go up and it's just one of those things where when it gets bad enough, we're running from call to call to call and it's a really busy day," said Illinois State Police Trooper Josh Korando.
"Were you surprised to see all the snow," said cousins Gio Calax and Ian Valdez. "We looked outside and we were like oh my gosh!"
Calax and Valdez offered a helping hand to shovel the mounds of snow off their family's driveway.
"We were playing video games too and we were like we're bored, so let's go and do this. We're like, we'll shovel and then we'll play in the snow," they said.
The Illinois Tollway said it has mobilized its full fleet of 196 snowplows. They will be out continuously treating the roads and clearing the snow and ice.
Chicagoans were among 20 million Americans across 14 states, from California to Michigan, who are under Winter Weather Alerts on Saturday, ABC News reported.
SEE ALSO | I-94 reopened after crash involving as many as 20 vehicles near IL/WI border, ISP says
Big snow fell in southern Wyoming on Friday, with a 24-hour total of 38 inches for for Sugar Loaf Campground. The heaviest snow may fall in or just north of the Chicago are with 6 to 12 inches possible for Milwaukee, according to ABC News.
Cold air will continue for the North and Midwest into the beginning of the week. In fact, many in the North, especially the Great Lakes region, will feel below zero wind chills each morning next week.
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