"Monster snow storm" heading to Chicago...
Hoping and praying Daddy will make it home in time... safe and sound.
One day we'll look back at this and laugh.... I'm sure. One day.
www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/31/winter.storm/index.html
www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/31/snow.storm.preparations/?hpt=Sbin
‘Life-threatening’ blizzard on its way to Chicago area
FROM SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE Jan 31, 2011 4:06PM
Falling snow covers the back of Mark Vainisi while he and his brother David Young shovel the sidewalk in front of their home in Tinley Park, Illinois, Thursday January 27, 2011. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media
A major blizzard the National Weather Service is calling “life-threatening” is on its way to the Chicago area, also bringing along strong winds that could send 18-foot Lake Michigan waves onto Lake Shore Drive Tuesday night into early Wednesday.
The blizzard watch remains in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon in several counties, including Kane, DuPage, Cook, Lake, McHenry and DeKalb. The watch is also in effect for Porter, Lake, Newton, Jasper and Benton counties in Indiana, the National Weather Service said.
The snow will begin to come in from the Southwest about noon Tuesday, with the heaviest snowfall expected to hit the Chicago area in the evening into overnight, National Weather Service meteorologist Samuel Shea said.
“The heaviest snowfall will be from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Wednesday and that will be a combination of snow and strong winds that will create potential hazards,” Shea said.
The National Weather Service is calling the pending blizzard life-threatening.
“You figure if you are out traveling and you do end up going off the road, having to be rescued and you aren’t prepared for the conditions, things could be life-threatening,” Shea said.
As of Monday morning, satellite images showed an 85 percent chance of at least 8 inches of snow heading into the Chicago area and a 65 to 70 percent chance of it becoming more than 12 inches, Shea said. Totals of 18 inches are possible near Lake Michigan.
“It could very easily be measured in feet,” he said.
White-out conditions are expected at times Tuesday night as very heavy snow and strong winds will cause blizzard conditions. The snow is expected to fall 2 to 3 inches per hour, the weather service said.
Snow is expected to fall so heavily at times Tuesday night that plows will be unable to keep up with the snow, with many side streets and untreated roads becoming impassable, the weather service said.
On Lake Michigan, a gale watch currently in effect could become a gale warning with 35 knots or higher possible, Shea said.
“One thing that could potentially impact the lake at the same time the snow hits is the potential for coastal flooding in both Lake and Cook counties,” Shea said.
Wind gusts could hit up to 50 mph and waves could build up to 14 to 18 feet on Lake Shore Drive. That could result in beach erosion and coastal flooding, particularly on Lake Shore Drive and on other flood probe areas near the lake with overwash from high waves, Shea said.
Although a 1/2-inch of ice buildup was reported on Lake Michigan Monday morning, the winds and waves could break up the ice and send it onto nearby roads.
The storm is expected to hit Indiana shortly after it hits the Chicago area.
By Wednesday afternoon northerly winds will continue that could prolong the snow over northwest Indiana, causing some “potentially significant” lake effect snow, NWS meteorologist Richard Castro said.
The temperatures will remain in the mid 20s for the high until Wednesday. But by Thursday, it will become much colder with temperatures only reaching 10 degrees on Thursday.
The National Weather Service said the last time a snowstorm of this magnitude occurred was in January 1999.
“That storm dumped 19 inches of snow to the area,’’ Castro said.
“Snowstorms of this potential magnitude are not very common for this part of the country,’’ Castro said.
The snowfall record for this area remains the 23 inches that fell during the “infamous storm” in January of 1967, he said.
