Northwest Indiana sees record 21 inches of snow, while Chicago temperatures remain freezing Saturday
Parts of northwest Indiana received more than 2 feet of snow due to an intense lake effect storm system late Friday, setting a record snowfall for LaPorte County, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service said its LaPorte collection site recorded 21.9 inches of snow on Friday, setting a record for the highest ever snowfall total at the site, said Northern Indiana meteorologist Amos Dodson.
As of 4:30 a.m. Saturday, 35 inches of snow were collected in Michigan City, Indiana, including 8 inches since 10 p.m. Friday night, according to an unofficial report provided by the weather service. Another unofficial observation from the north side of LaPorte, Indiana, measured 32 inches of snow.
As of 6 a.m. Saturday, the lakefront city of St. Joseph, Michigan, had 10.2 inches of snow. Record snow was also seen in South Bend, with a total of 5.9 inches recorded Friday. In Porter County, four inches of snow fell from Friday morning through Saturday morning, the weather service said. The snowfall was heavy enough at times Friday to create white-out conditions near the Indiana-Michigan state line, with traffic on Interstate 94 often slowed to around 20 mph. A truck that slid off the road was blocking an on-ramp near Michigan City and plows had been unable to keep up with accumulations.
Although the lingering lake effect is creating heavy snow in northwest Indiana, the weather service is not seeing a chance of snow for Chicago and the west side of Lake Michigan over the weekend, King said.
Snow showers were expected to continue through late Saturday morning, creating dangerous road conditions in northwest Indiana, the weather service said. A winter storm warning remains in place for LaPorte and St. Joseph counties in Indiana and Berrien County in Michigan until 1 p.m. EST Saturday.
Snow fell at rates of 2 inches per hour Friday night, according to the weather service.
Meanwhile, snow showers in Chicago have tapered off, but freezing temperatures with wind chills of 10 to 15 mph will remain through the day Saturday.
Saturday temperatures will be in the higher teens and lowers 20s, but wind chills will still make it feel colder, said Chicago meteorologist David King.
“We’re going to see a gradual warm up in temperatures,” King said. By Monday, temperatures could reach the low 30s in Chicago.
The Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli contributed.
