John Klut clears his block’s sidewalk with his snow blower in Hammond, Ind. (Credit: CBS)
UPDATED 01/17/12 2:50 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A day that began with rain and mild temperatures is giving way to cold, snow and blustering winds.
Snow began falling late Tuesday morning and early Tuesday afternoon in Chicago.
The Chicago Department of Streets & Sanitation deployed 183 snow plows late Tuesday morning when rain began turning to light snow and temperatures began to drop below freezing. The trucks were focusing on the city’s main streets and Lake Shore Drive.
“Snow should be light, but the combination of wet pavement and a sharp drop in temperatures could create slick conditions,” Streets & Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne said in a news release. “Even though our trucks will treat any portions of roadway that need it, motorists should still drive with caution in these kinds of winter weather conditions.”
One inch of snow had already fallen in Woodstock by 11 a.m. The McHenry County community of Harvard saw 0.7 inches, Sprin Grove 0.5 inches, and Bull Valley 0.4 inches.
The snow is expected to dump 2 to 4 inches of snow in Lake and McHenry counties, particularly in areas close to the Wisconsin state line. The rest of the Chicago area will get a dusting to 2 inches depending on where the bands of snow pass through.
Meanwhile, conditions are becoming blustery as northwest winds gust up to 40 degrees. Temperatures will stay in the 20s during daylight hours, but the wind chill will likely make it feel as if it were in the teens.
The snowfall is expected to taper off by sunset. But as high pressure moves in Tuesday night, the temperature will fall to a frigid 8 degrees for an overnight low, with wind chills of 0 to minus 5.
The high on Wednesday tops out at only 24, with a low of 14. And when Thursday comes around, look up for a frigid 15 as the high, followed by a low of 7.
All of this is quite a change from early Tuesday morning. Back at 5 a.m., it was a balmy 38 degrees. But the rain was fairly unpleasant in the wee hours, falling sideways and rendering accommodations such as bus shelters more or less useless.
Storms downstate might even have caused a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning in Will County. Far downstate, severe thunderstorms ripped down bleachers and a campus building at Belleville West High School in the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis. No one was hurt, and classes are going on as scheduled.
