2/13/07-2/14/07 NOW: MIDWEST (WINTER PRECIP)

[Robert Dewey]

This system is quite impressive on the WV loop... Overlaying the 15 minute lightning data, frequent lightning has been occuring along the path of the shortwave, tracking from NM up through KS and NE.

 

[Joel Wright]

Well, nothing too exciting to report from here so far, but the first snowflakes are just now finally starting to make it to the surface. The leading edge of the northward advancing snow is being chewed at pretty vigorously by the strengthening dry northeast surface winds.

Radar seems to be reflecting the model trends nicely, so I think the forecasts should pan out okay.

We have about 5" on the ground right now from previous snows. It looks like that depth will double by tomorrow night...

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Very heavy snow falling here in eastern Illinois. Probably already 2-3 inches of new accumulation in the first couple hours of snowfall. This is on top of the 4 inches we already had on the ground from the previous storm. A very intense band is about 15 minutes away, so things could pick up even more shortly. Winds are already sustained over 20 mph as well...

 

[Brian Stertz]

3" of snow as of 1am in Overland Park (KC Metro)...moderate to heavy snow continues to fall. It's going to be a very pretty snow to wake up to. The wet snow has attached to everything like somebody sprayed foam.

 

[Dan Robinson]

3 hours of freezing rain so far here with temps wavering between 31F and 33F. Our DPs are slowly rising toward the freezing mark so I don't think this will last much longer. I'm at 33F here at the house, and fog is starting to form down in the valley -showing we are close to saturation and the end of the evaporative cooling support. A light glaze on plants and metal objects outside now, but nothing on the roads. At least we saw *something* here before the warm wedge kills the event. Thankfully, the mountains are a short drive away where upslope will keep things cold and make the icing a little more interesting tomorrow - so a short winter wx chase will probably be in order.

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

4.8 inches here. more on the way. over 80 schools already out!! blizzard warning probably on the horizon

 

[Danny Neal]

1.8 inches so far at 9100S and 3400W on the southwest side of chicago. Looks like there are some breaks in the snow.....I am currently experiencing one, because as I went out to measure I noticed the only snow falling was the snow from my house being blown about.

 

[Joel Wright]

A bit over 3" of new snow here as of 7am local time. That makes the current snowdepth at 8". The winds are really picking up here recently whipping the snow around quite a bit. I'm sure out in the open areas the snow is really beginning to drift.

Model and radar trends point to another 8-10 hours of snow, so another 2-3" looks reasonable here.

 

[Danny Neal]

4.3 inches here now on SW side of Chicago with 3-6 more hours to go. Maybe some lake effect too? I would anticipate up to 4 more inches to go where I live. Too bad I haven't moved yet. My new house site the guy across the street just measure 9.7 inches 10 miles south of Kankakee.

 

[Brian Stertz]

Finaled out at 4.4" of snow in Overland Park. The snow compressed alot during the early stages of the snow, so the exact total may have been closer to 5" for the storm total.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

This is INTENSE. My best guess is that there is about a foot of snow on the ground already, but drifting makes it hard to guess. Winds are currently sustained at 40 mph, and because of that we've been upgraded to a blizzard warning. With many hours to go I can only imagine how bad it's going to it. The University of Illinois has shut down, for only the second time because of weather. Two Illinois basketball players were also in an accident this morning, one of which is in critical condition right now.

 

[John Farley]

We finally got the changeover to snow in Edwardsville, Il around 11 a.m. The temperature remained above freezing until around 7 or 8 a.m., after which we got an hour or so of predominantly freezing rain with some sleet, then mainly sleet from around 9 to 11 a.m. This resulted in a quarter inch or so of ice and sleet on the roads before the changeover to snow. I think we will get a quick 2-4 inches of snow here between now and around 2:00 p.m., then becoming lighter and more showery after that. There have been a few reports of thundersnow around Alton and in the west suburbs of St. Louis, but no thunder here yet. We do have a cluster of heavy precip pushing up from just to our south now, so still could get some, I suppose. Many freeways are closed in the St. Louis area due to icing and pileups.

 

[Jesse Risley]

We've received about 6"-7" of snow here in West Central IL. I'm off work today since the schools are all shut down! Winds are gusting to near 40 mph, but our lower snow totals out west are preventing total blizzard criteria. However, this was a very nice storm system to say the least. It looks as if the low pressure system is moving a bit further north than originally anticipated, so watch out Eastern IL. Western IL University also made a rare choice to close today, so that makes twice in a year.

 

[Jesse Risley]

C'mon over to Springfield. I have 13" here, not counting the waist high drifts. We have near white-out conditions, and the plows have just given up.

They've quit here too and we've only got half as much. I'm going to predict 15"-18" is not out of the question along the I-72 corridor.

 

[Chris Hayes]

Just got done shoveling, and measured several areas of my yard and driveway. About 4" on the ground so far. Heaviest bands have yet to come