Jeff Snyder
EF5
Been listening to the Lake County, IL Sheriffs department on my police scanner. Cars are stranded in the roadways everywhere. Cops are stranded, Ambulances are stranded, etc. The plows are staging at the fire departments and are pretty much only being used to clear paths for emergency equipment at this time. Many folks stranded in cars calling for help, and the cops are having a lot of trouble getting to them as they are getting stuck themselves. Police and fire in Lake County is simply crippled.
The LOT NWSFO just released a PNS relaying similar info:
--> http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KLOT/1102020608.wwus83.htmlREPORTS FROM MEDIA AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALLY INDICATE
[FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]THAT HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES HAVE GONE OFF THE
ROADS. THE GOVERNOR HAS ACTIVATED THE NATIONAL GUARD WHO ARE
CURRENTLY RESCUING STRANDED MOTORISTS.
[/FONT][FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]THE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT...PARTICULARLY IN
OPEN AREAS WHERE WHITE OUT CONDITIONS WILL MAKE TRAVEL
IMPOSSIBLE. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ARE TELLING PEOPLE TO
STAY OFF THE ROADS AS NOT A SINGLE ROAD IS PASSABLE IN RURAL AND
OPEN AREAS. THEY ARE ASKING PEOPLE TO STAY IN A SAFE PLACE AND NOT
TO LEAVE HOME TONIGHT. [/FONT][FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]
The winds continue to be impressive, just as they were about 24 hours ago when the heavy sleet was starting in Oklahoma. Max wind gust I can see from the LOT area is 67 mph, but the major airports have had >60 mph gusts. 1051 mb high in Colorado and 998 mb low in Indiana (per 6z RUC analysis on rap.ucar) will do that, I suppose.
LOT also has the mother of all LSR summaries (issued around 11 pm local) that's interesting to peruse (LINK).
[/FONT]