Lake plays role in snow at edge of huge storm

Snow at the north end of a huge winter storm lingers into morning over sections of the
Chicago area. It's fallen here at a fraction the rate of the heavy snows that began in
Downstate Illinois and Indiana early Tuesday. The half foot reported late Tuesday near St.
Louis increased to more than 8 inches to the east in Ohio -- and the snow was still
coming down hard and working east toward the Mid-Atlantic and New England States where more
than a foot is predicted by Thursday.
Snowfall overnight in portions of the Chicago area has been enhanced by some moisture
off Lake Michigan. A 150-mile long but only 10- to 20-mile wide band of snow had formed
late Tuesday over Lake Michigan. Radar indicated the so-called moisture plume of snow was
producing enhanced snowfall within a corridor from south of Ludington, Mich., to the
Chicago shoreline. The feature was produced by converging low-level winds which were
concentrating lake moisture. With computer models predicting the plume likely to remain intact into
Wednesday morning, the potential for a few spells of heavier snowfall may linger near
Lake Michigan until the feature shifts east and diminishes later in the morning.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune