Roads across the entire northern half of Illinois are completely “covered with snow or ice,” the Illinois Department of Transportation warned, with officials warning people to avoid unnecessary travel as blizzard warnings and winter weather advisories continue for the Chicago area Monday.
“Travel is dangerous due to very low visibility,” IDOT said on its Getting Around Illinois winter road conditions map. “If you must travel, conditions may be worse depending on where you’re headed. Use extreme caution.”
IDOT warned travel was especially dangerous in McHenry and DeKalb Counties in Illinois and Kenosha County in Wisconsin, where blizzard warnings were in place. The blowing snow from winds gusting as high as 45 mph at times “will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening,” the National Weather Service warned, with reduced visibility to a quarter-mile or less.
“The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning commute,” the NWS said. “Strong winds could bring down tree branches and cause power outages.” The NWS added that in areas where the blizzard warning was in effect, “travel should be restricted to emergencies only.”
In Lake, Kane, DuPage, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy and Will Counties in Illinois; and LaPorte County in Indiana, a winter weather advisory was in effect, with “significant snow and blowing snow” through the morning.
“Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will become slick and hazardous,” the NWS warned. “Plan on slippery road conditions. Blowing snow will cause sharply reduced visibilities, particularly in open areas. The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.”
Multiple crashes were already reported, including on the Kennedy Expressway at Diversey on I-294 at Sanders and on the Jane Addams in Hoffman Estates, NBC 5 traffic reporter Kye Martin said. Spinouts and crashes stretching from Naperville to the south suburbs were also reported.
In Lincolnshire in Lake County, the roads were “completely covered,” NBC 5 reporter Chris Hush said from Storm Chaser. “Half Day Road, same situation,” Hush said, where only one driving lane had been plowed, “if it all.”
“You really need to take it slow this morning,” Hush said. “We saw one vehicle spun-out that was on I-94.”
Some roads were completely untouched by plows, with the fleet focusing on the tollway, Hush said.
“The snow is coming down at a really good clip,” he said. “They’ll plow it, but within minutes, snow will be right back on the pavement.”
Live weather radar: Track the snow near you
While the snow will gradually come to an end later Monday afternoon, wind-whipped snow from gusts near 50 mph will continue.
NBC 5 Storm Team Pete Sack said the snow was “a little unprecedented” considering thunderstorms rumbled just hours before, with flood advisories from heavy rain continuing across the Chicago area.
The snow also lead to more than 300 flights canceled at O’Hare International Airport, and school closures for some Chicago area schools, including in Woodstock, Wonder Lake and Cary.
How much snow will we get?
As the snow comes to an end, counties under the blizzard warning can expect to see between 4-7 inches of snowfall, Sack said.
Woodstock could see as much as five inches of snow, Sack said, with more than four inches in DeKalb. In Rockford, more than six inches of snow was expected.
In counties under the winter weather advisory, between 1-3 inches of snowfall was expected, with highest amounts in Waukegan, Aurora and DuPage, the NBC 5 Storm Team 5 snow totals map showed.
Temperatures dropping
Temperatures will drop as the snow falls, Sack said, with temperatures temperatures in the 20s and wind chills in the single digits. By Monday night, temperatures will feel “more like the middle of January,” the NWS said, with wind chills below zero.
By Wednesday, temperatures will bump back up, Sack said, with readings into the 40s and 50s through the weekend.
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