10pm update - We're in a lull right now and should continue in that for at least six hours. Snow currently moving through western Iowa will be here by 4am with a steady moderate snow for the morning commute. An additional 3-6 inches are possible by the time this system wraps up during Wednesday late-afternoon. Once this system is done, our attention will turn to Thursday night's sleet/freezing rain potential...and Friday/Saturday's flooding potential. No rest for the weary just yet! -ES(8:35:20 PM) iembot: DVN: 4 Nnw Lanark [Carroll Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M0.4 INCH at 08:20 PM CST -- 3/8inch of new snow since 1 pm.
(6:43:51 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Orfordville [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M2.5 INCH at 06:34 PM CST --
(6:03:35 PM) nwsbot: LOT: Rockford Airport [Winnebago Co, IL] official nws obs reports SNOW of M4.0 INCH at 06:01 PM CST -- 1.6 snowfall 12 pm to 6 pm. storm total 4.0 inches so far.
(4:35:56 PM) nwsbot: LOT: Crystal Lake [Mchenry Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M4.0 INCH at 04:32 PM CST -- snowfall 1.9 inches at 6 am. snowfall 2.2 inches 6 am to 4 pm. storm total 4.0.
(4:03:27 PM) nwsbot: LOT: 1 Ne Cary [Mchenry Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M4.4 INCH at 03:30 PM CST -- 2.7 inches of snowfall in the past 7 hours. storm total so far 4.4 inches. blowing and drifting snow has occurred which has made exact measurement difficult.
(3:47:52 PM) nwsbot: LOT: Belvidere [Boone Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M2.5 INCH at 03:41 PM CST -- storm total 2.5 inches. very slick roads with black ice. many accidents reported.
(3:38:42 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Janesville [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M2.2 INCH at 02:56 PM CST --
3:30pm - This is a shot from the WI DOT traffic camera in Janesville at I-90/39 and Wis. 11 East. You can see traffic severely backed up due to a car accident with cars in the median.3:10pm - The snow will remain generally scattered in nature through the evening hours. There's a narrow band currently set up from the Quad Cities through Kirksville, Missouri. It's sliding off to the northeast, so whoever it goes over will deal with light to moderate snow for much of the next several hours. Otherwise, it looks like just occasional, scattered light snow. However, even if you're not experiencing snow, road conditions will, as mentioned, be very hazardous.
2:30pm - Numerous accidents have been reported due to blowing snow and black ice on area highways. Even if the roadway looks like it is free of snow there is probably a thin layer of ice that is not visible. Please exercise extreme caution. No one (regardless of four-wheel-drive capabilities) should be going more than 40mph on any roadway this afternoon and evening.
(1:36:37 PM) nwsbot: DVN: Freeport [Stephenson Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M2.5 INCH at 01:25 PM CST -- updated snowfall, 1/2 inch in last 21/2 hours. still lightly snowing.
(11:59:35 AM) nwsbot: LOT: Rockford Airport [Winnebago Co, IL] official nws obs reports SNOW of M2.4 INCH at 11:57 AM CST -- 2.4 storm total. 1.1 since 6 am.
(11:37:36 AM) nwsbot: DVN: 3 N Sterling [Whiteside Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M3.0 INCH at 11:36 AM CST -- drifting and blowing.
(11:35:33 AM) nwsbot: DVN issues Winter Storm Warning valid at Dec 23, 6:00 PM CST for Jackson, Clinton [IA] and Carroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Whiteside [IL] till Dec 24, 3:00 PM CST
Western counties have a Winter Storm Warning that starts at 6 for moderate snowfall accumulations and blowing/drifting snow. Regardless of the advisory, conditions will be pretty unpleasant area-wide with occasionally heavy snow and blowing snow reducing visibility.
(12/23/2008 10:35:02 AM) iembot: LOT: De Kalb [De Kalb Co, IL] trained spotter reports 10 car accident Rt 38. Another accident I-88 at anne glidden rd. Visibility less than 1/4 mile, winds near 30 mph.
(12/23/2008 10:24:30 AM) iembot: LOT: Sandwich [De Kalb Co, IL] trained spotter reports BLIZZARD at 10:00 AM CST -- blowing and drifting snow visibility less than 1/8 of a mile.
Update 10:15am = All westbound lanes on I-88 west of DeKalb are blocked due to severe weather with high winds and no visibility. All eastbound lanes remain open.
Original Post = The broken record keeps spinning. More snow is on tap for today that will impact travel in a significant way. The snow coming from the cloud base this morning is light to moderate in intensity. Traction is going to be limited on area roads. What is just as big of a concern are the winds that are wreaking havoc. Several southerly wind gusts of 30 mph have already been reported and visibility right now is below one mile in Rockford, Freeport, Rochelle, and DeKalb.
As you can see numerous winter weather advisories, watches, and warnings are in place across the Midwest. This is unfortunate with many folks traveling around the holidays. If you are headed north, south, or east you are driving into some rough road conditions. Snow will continue periodically for the next 24-30 hours across portions Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The best direction to head in the short term is straight west towards Waterloo, Des Moines, and Omaha (as indicated by the cool little green cars on FutureTrack).They say timing is everything. Here is the latest thinking of the timing of this event. Today's snow bands are scattered meaning we are in for an off/on scenario. These bands are on the microscale, which means forecasting the individual bands won't be possible past an hour or two out. Today's intermittent snow will continue until midnight. Our first extended period of dry skies comes between midnight and 6am on your Wednesday. This tranquility will be brief because shortly after 6am, another swath of moderate to heavy snow slides our way. The snow on Christmas Eve is going to have a shorter duration. A punch of dry air is going to move in aloft by noon, which means the snow should shut off for good by 1pm on Christmas Eve.
In conclusion, if you have a road trip planned or have some travelers heading to you, the next 24-30 hours are going to have slick and slippery driving conditions. Roadways should begin improving by the middle of the afternoon tomorrow. If you are using mainly interstates you will be happy to hear that those roads get plowed first and are usually in the best shape. The overnight hours of Christmas Eve appear great as long as you can stay awake at the wheel. If you head out during that time, you might even be able to see Santa fly overhead since our skies will be clearing out! -ADAM
7 comments:
My father who is a truck drive is stuck on route 38 because of accidents and blowing snow. He told me that things are at a stand still. Hopefully it clears up for him, and hopefully there aren't any injuries with the traffic accidents.
People need to learn their limits while driving. Driving too fast in any weather conditions is a bit reckless, add blowing snow and whiteout conditions and then you have a very dangerous situation.
Be careful out on the roads everyone. Sure we all want to get from point a to point b as fast as possible, but you had better be prepared to handle the consequences.
Will the winds calm down for Christmas Eve at all? Will be driving on I-88 somewhere around 1pm to Wheaton from Dixon...am hoping there won't be much wind if any at all.
WATCH THOSE ROADS! Several accidents here in Boone County. Roads "LOOK" Clear but there is a thin layer of ice/slush that makes stopping almost impossible.
Everyone needs to drive slowly and carefully. There is no traction at intersections and on secondary streets. Also, if you or your children need to be walking in the road, please try to move off the road whenever there are cars coming by. Kids especially have no frame of reference to realize how little control drivers have near them today.
It looks like there may have been some changes to tomorrows forecast if I am reading the New Developments correctly? (I missed the weather reports at 5 and 6).Is it now suppose to snow the entire afternoon tomorrow rather than taper off about Noon? I am suppose to be traveling tomorrow and I am trying to plan for this..appreciate your help.
I was out snowmobiling in JoDaviess and Stephenson counties and it's been misting and it's a bit foggy. So, I'm sure the roads will be all ice whenever it drops back below freezing.
Carrie, I stand by my forecast discussion from yesterday. The Christmas Eve snow will end around lunchtime with dry skies this afternoon. It will turn windy and colder this afternoon, but a big push of dry air at 700mb is going to shut the snow off. Road conditions should be fairly manageable by the middle of the afternoon with a fairly easy drive this evening.
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