Howling west winds—40 m.p.h. and stronger at times Friday—propel waves of snow across the area, reinstating a wintry chill in the process. Gone are the 50° highs which reached Pontiac and Gary and the 48° observed briefly at Midway Airport. Bursts of thundery rain left 1.09" at O’Hare, the most ever on a March 1 here.
Friday’s gales here are tied to the latest winter storm to rake the Heartland and fall short of the 66 m.p.h. gusts which accompanied its white-out snowfall in Duluth last evening. Minneapolis, where snow is to fall into Friday night, though at a slower pace, sat beneath 12" of snow late Thursday. In western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, where Omaha’s winds reached 57 m.p.h. Thursday, up to 16" of new snow had fallen.
The storm’s southern flank proved especially vicious, spawning at least 22 twisters. A brief touchdown was reported west of Champaign in Macon County.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
