Storm that dumped up to 8 inches of snow in Chicago area ending; weekend looks cold and dry, forecasters say
A winter storm that dumped as much of 8 inches of snow in the north suburbs is making its way out of the Chicago area but rush hour could still be treacherous for motorists, especially downtown and on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, forecasters said.
As of about 1:30 p.m., some light snow was still falling west of downtown but the weather band is making its way through central and southern Cook County, eventually moving south and after that conditions will improve “pretty quickly,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr.
For early evening and rush hour, motorists should still be careful, especially on Lake Shore Drive and in the downtown area, which is “trickier” because of persistent lake-effect snow.
“It looks like it will probably be not too bad, but there could be some slick spots,” Petr said.
In general, central and northeast Cook County saw 3 to 7 inches while DuPage and Will counties tapered to 1 to 3 inches of snow, Petr said.
Wilmette had 8 inches of snow and appeared to be the highest in the area. O’Hare International Airport had 3.3 inches and Midway International Airport had 7.2 inches, Petr said.
The totals were not expected to set any records.
The Illinois State Police in Chicago responded to 50 crashes Friday morning, mostly on expressways, spokeswoman Haylie Polistina said. There were no fatalities as a result of the crashes, Polistina said.
The weekend looks dry but chilly, and temperatures Friday afternoon remain in the lower 20s but they will plunge into the teens, single digits and even below zero in areas west of downtown.
Saturday temperatures will hover in the mid- to lower 20s and on Sunday it will warm up to the upper 20s, Petr said.
The next chance for any “impactful” storms could happen overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, Petr said.
“It’s far enough out,” he said, “that it’s just something to keep an eye on.”
