The season’s biggest snowstorm walloped Chicago’s north and west suburbs late Friday, slashing visibilities to under a quarter mile and bringing traffic to a near standstill at times. Numerous cars were reported in ditches along Interstate 90 from Rockford to Elgin. One motorist, traveling from Waukegan to Algonquin, reported near whiteout conditions Friday evening while another spent three hours traveling from Rockford to the Fox Valley area.
By 10 p.m., snow accumulations had reached 10” at Lake Zurich, 9” at Cary in McHenry County and 8” in DeKalb—and the snow was still falling. Meanwhile, rain continued to fall late Friday evening at south suburban locations—a region expected to escape much of the storm’s ice and snow.
Though Friday’s temperatures retreated from Thursday’s 50s, readings were warm enough to produce a 29th straight above-normal day.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
