We have about 6 inches of new snow from this system so far (on top of about 4 inches already on the ground) in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The lake effect snow machine has just been turned on but it looks like only another couple inches will fall from that in my county (Lake County, IL). Right now, it's coming down at a decent rate of about an inch per hour. It does seem like more that that due to the blowing snow mixed in though. South of the city there is a narrow lake effect snow band dumping about 2-3 inches per hour over an area from about Michigan City, Indiana to Kankakee, Illinois and it's been doing so for the last hour and a half.
The main threat in the Northern suburbs will be blowing and drifting snow. There was a 4 foot drift against my garage earlier today. Many of the roads will be clear tonight but there will be several isolated patches of snow cover. If somebody is on a clear road driving at normal speeds and then hits a 2-3 inch snow patch on the road, it could spell disaster. I expect more than a few accidents due to this overnight. The snowplows in my town of Mundelein have all but quit plowing the side streets. Their main concern at this moment are the major roads since they cover back up almost as soon as they are cleared. The crew in Mundelein always does a spectacular job keeping the roads clear (I'd say the best in the county, if not the state), but even they are having trouble today.
As of this current moment, the winds aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Only about 10mph sustained with semi-frequent gusts to 20 and very brief isolated gusts to 30. Some of you in the central parts of Illinois are seeing double that with reports of gusts into the 50mph range.
Most schools even here in the northeastern part of the state have been closed. My former college, Western Illinois University in Macomb, has been shut down for the second time this year. Previous to 2006/2007, the school wasn't shut down for over 20 years due to the weather.
Funny how a foot of snow sounds like nothing compared to areas like Oswego, NY (who will see another couple of feet in the next couple days), but this is the first major snowstorm for many areas in the Midwest this season. As I’ve read on here before, if it’s going to be cold, it might as well snow. And if it’s going to snow, it might as well snow a lot. Enjoy it folks.