Dear Tom,
My parents gave me a picture that was taken on our farm in Manteno, Ill. after a mid-
April 1961 snowstorm. Do you have any record of this storm?
Janet Sorensen, Wilmington, Ill.
Dear Janet,
Your picture, which has been posted on our weather blog at www.wgntv.com, was
taken after one of the heaviest late-season snowstorms to ever hit northeast Illinois.
The storm began late April 15 and continued into the early morning hours of April
17, bringing the area 5-8 inches of heavy, wet snow. Strong winds piled the snow
into 6 foot high drifts. The Chicago area measured 6.8 inches of snow while south of
the city near Manteno, Kankakee received 5.6 inches. Like all late-season snows, this
one did not last long. Temperatures quickly rebounded into the 60s and 70s and the
snow was gone in a day or two.
