18 Inches Of Snow For Parts Of Indiana?
• NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATCHES AND WARNINGS
• GET THE FORECAST
• CHECK AIRPORT DELAYS
• CHECK RADAR MAPS
• GET TRAFFIC CONDITIONS
• CHECK SCHOOL, BUSINESS CLOSINGS
• FIND A WARMING/COOLING CENTER
• SEND US YOUR PICTURES OF THE STORM
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (CBS) -- The snow may be winding down for the immediate Chicago area, but if you live in parts of Northwest Indiana, you might end up with a foot and a half of snow piled up in your front yard.
A lake effect snow warning is in effect for Porter County, Ind., until 4 p.m. Wednesday, and for LaPorte, Starke, St. Joseph and Marshall counties in Indiana, and Berrien County, Mich., until 6 a.m. Central Time Thursday.
A lake effect snow warning can mean snowfall so severe that travel can be hazardous or even impossible. Lake effect snow showers usually align themselves in bands, some of which might drop an inch of snow per hour for several hours, according to the National Weather Service.
CBS 2 Meteorologist Megan Glaros says in Porter County residents can expect 8 to 12 inches. In LaPorte County, the South Bend area, and Harbor Country in Michigan, totals could top out at 12 to 18 inches. And South Bend was socked with nearly three feet of snow last weekend.
The Indiana Toll Road is closed to truck traffic until 4 p.m. from Portage to South Bend.
Snow was coming down steadily in Northwest Indiana near the rim of Lake Michigan. Some light snow was also falling in the immediate Chicago area near the lake, and as far north as Waukegan.
Northwest Indiana already saw its fair share of lake effect snow on Tuesday night. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports the snowfall was so thick in many areas, even freight trains seemed to disappear as they churned into the darkness.
For people at the Dune Park South Shore station, the cleanup started after their evening commute.
They were greeted with several inches of snow on their cars.
"There's going to be trouble tonight," Gerardo Villanueva said as he helped the woman parked next to him clear off her snow.
Commuter Patricia Beauchamp is in the midst of her first winter in Indiana, having moved from west suburban Clarendon Hills.
"This is a little bit more than expected," she said.
