11/29/06 - 12/1/06 NOW: Plains/Great Lakes snowstorm

[J. O'Beirne]

4:45am, LaSalle-Peru, IL: Surprising amt of lightning here. Several flashes in the past few minutes. 3.5 in. of snow so far, on top of a layer of sleet/ice.

7:40a (Update) - LaSalle-Peru, IL: More lightning/thunder over the past few hours. Snow drifting much more than I had anticipated: Snow dunes of 2 to 2.5 ft. abound. Actual snow accum. of about 7-8 in.

 

[Jesse Risley]

I'll post pics later...one of the worst snowstorms I can remember in nearly 20 years with all this wind...we have at least 8" on the ground at this point, if not more.

 

[Danny Neal]

was just awoken to the BOOMING of thunder on the southside of chicago, snow JUST started here, its still mixing with sleet and freezing rain, but now more and more flakes, the ground is coated with a thin layer of ice and now a dusting of snow, they say the 8-12 inch range with occur from la salle to dekalb in that general area and for me its tricky i could get 6-10 inches of snow or i can get an inch of ice

 

[Taylor Pechacek]

Blizzard Warning - MKE

Hi all...

What a great time for a snow angel. The MKX office issued their first Blizzard Warning for Milwaukee Co. since 1999. Strong 30-35kt winds have created very bad travel conditions for the next few hours.

Source: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/?n=tm-116

Racine / Kenosha also in the mix...>13 inches maybe and some lake enhanced snows.

from the NWS advisory...
IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF INDOORS...YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIFE AT
RISK. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...BRING ALONG A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT AND
STAY WITH YOUR CAR IF YOU BECOME STRANDED.

there was already a multi-car pileup along some interstate near Chicago. Good luck with class today Michael.

 

[Michael Rogers]

It's a miracle! After 20-something years, the WIU campus is CLOSED FOR BUSINESS!!!!!! Everything around here is shut down! Hello snow day!!! Back to bed!!!!

I'll be sure to post more photos later (after I'm done sleeping in - heheh).

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WIU-Macomb Campus Closed Dec. 1

MACOMB, IL -- The Western Illinois University-Macomb campus is closed today and classes are canceled, Friday, Dec. 1, due to the winter weather conditions.

When the University is shut down, employees will be dismissed from and paid for their regular working shift. Employees working in essential positions may be required to work their regular hours during a total shutdown. Essential versus nonessential employees will be determined by the supervisor and will depend on the nature of the advisory situation.

 

[Robert Rohloff]

Tulsa Oklahoma set a new record for snow fall for the month of November yesterday at 10.4 inches. I thought I was back home in Michigan the way it was snowing and blowing. It shut done many roads in northeast Oklahoma. It was noted that the NWS office at Tulsa issued its first blizzard warning ever..........

 

[Jarrod Cook]

Bradley University classes are cancelled today! Also, ISU classes are also cancelled. Snow plows and fire engines are reported stuck throughout Peoria. Most major interstates are closed... Wow.

 

[Danny Neal]

bout 4-5 inches here on the south side of chi town with maybe an hour n half left, subs just to my northwest have 13-15 inches its amazing what a rain/snow line can do

 

[Michael Rogers]

A Western Illinois University bus is reportedly stuck in a ditch. Macomb and WIU police are reporting (via my police scanner) that their squad cars are stuck in their parking lot. They are having a tough job cleaning up the streets. It appears as if the streets have a thick layer of ice covered by snow. Early reports are showing 11 inches in the city of Macomb. The snow has completely stopped here now with the sun shining and everything is pushing to the northeast. What a fun night that was.

I hope everyone is OK from that Chicago pile-up. Stay safe everyone.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Hi all...

What a great time for a snow angel. The MKX office issued their first Blizzard Warning for Milwaukee Co. since 1999. Strong 30-35kt winds have created very bad travel conditions for the next few hours.

Source: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crh/?n=tm-116

Racine / Kenosha also in the mix...>13 inches maybe and some lake enhanced snows.

from the NWS advisory...
IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF INDOORS...YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIFE AT
RISK. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...BRING ALONG A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT AND
STAY WITH YOUR CAR IF YOU BECOME STRANDED.

there was already a multi-car pileup along some interstate near Chicago. Good luck with class today Michael.

The orientation of the warning makes me believe it's due to wind coming off the lake. If I recall correctly, the 1999 blizzard warning area was huge, spanning from IL and WI through parts of IN and most of southern lower MI.

 

[Danny Neal]

A Western Illinois University bus is reportedly stuck in a ditch. Macomb and WIU police are reporting (via my police scanner) that their squad cars are stuck in their parking lot. They are having a tough job cleaning up the streets. It appears as if the streets have a thick layer of ice covered by snow. Early reports are showing 11 inches in the city of Macomb. The snow has completely stopped here now with the sun shining and everything is pushing to the northeast. What a fun night that was.

I hope everyone is OK from that Chicago pile-up. Stay safe everyone.

yeah there was only minor injuries, there was bout a 8-10 car pile up at I 55 and Rt 171 and even a Summit fire dept engine was stuck and spun off, so far all is quiet with the fire and police i think people actually figured out.....ice+55 mph= uh oh or ice = slippery.....seems to be taporing down now all the schools uphere are closed EXCEPT the chicago public school which is shocking

 

[rdale]

Hi all...

What a great time for a snow angel. The MKX office issued their first Blizzard Warning for Milwaukee Co. since 1999. Strong 30-35kt winds have created very bad travel conditions for the next few hours.

Might be time for a new thread - but I wonder if we need to consider changing blizzard criteria. This storm did not meet criteria, and a quick check didn't find any sites in OK yesterday that met either...

All quiet around mid-Michigan, we picked up 1/4-1/2" ice with no major problems, roads were icy for a bit in the middle of the night but primarily just slush thanks to the very warm wx we've been having.

 

[Adam Atkins]

Incredible visible satellite picture today in the wake of the snowstorm.

 

[Marko Korosec]

Incredible visible satellite picture today in the wake of the snowstorm.

I second that, really impressive view from the satellites. I made an animation from VIS satellite today. Its amazing to see a sharp northern edge of snow cover, not to mention how fast is snow melting from the south!

http://www.weather-photos.net/temp/Animation2.gif (warning: 7Mb animation, but its worth!)

 

[Dan Robinson]

I just arrived back home in Charleston, WV after leaving St. Louis this afternoon. Temperatures rose steadily during the entire 8 hour drive back, from 24F in downtown STL to 32F in Louisville to 39F in downtown Charleston, WV.

Along I-64, the STL metro icing looks to have peaked around the Fairview Heights/Scott AFB area in IL, which received considerably higher ice accretions than the Missouri side. This is due to STL having a much longer period of sleet prior to the freezing rain onset, while the IL side stayed mainly freezing rain for the duration of the event.

30 miles west of Mount Vernon and eastward from there, absolutely no winter precip on the ground - no ice, snow or anything - a very sharp edge to the winter storm zone.

My car still has a 2 inch layer of solid ice and snow left on the roof and hood, which survived the entire trip home despite the last 200 miles being above freezing (I checked it periodically to make sure it would not break apart and fly off). I have the only (natural) frozen precip within 400 miles of here! The car will be getting some puzzled looks from the neighbors in the morning.