Rockford Scanner.Rockford’s Leading Online News Site!
Light snow is expected to develop mainly north of I-80 beginning this evening. Minor accumulations of less than an inch are expected through Thursday morning. With the slight accumulation, roads could be slick for the Thursday morning commute
Light snow will taper off Thursday morning across northern Illinois, and temperatures will reach into the 30s.
However, a wintry mix of precipitation will move into northern Illinois and northwest Indiana beginning Thursday evening. Freezing drizzle/rain will be possible across a good portion of the area, and could linger into Friday morning affecting the morning commute.
Drivers should be cautious driving on area roads. Temperatures will moderate heading into the weekend, but there is another potential for freezing rain Friday night into Saturday morning.
Precipitation will then change to all rain Saturday, and may be heavy at times.
Rockford Scanner.Rockford’s Leading Online News Site!
As the first winter storm hits our area of the season, expect “Accident-Magedon” to possibly happen. We all know it always happens every season. And when it hits, it will be Sunday during the day and evening so many are out on the roads because of church and the weekend.
So we wanted to point out a few things.
They will probably enforce the accident plan. Which means if you are involved in a non-injury accident. Then you and the other party exchange information and then go to the police station to file an accident report.
Carry an emergency kit with you.
Charge your cell phone
Drive slow and allow extra traveling time
Dress warm
They said this will be the heavy wet snow. Which is bad on several levels. It will probably cause power outages in the area. So please be prepared for extended periods of possible power outages.
Also wet heavy snow means exactly that, Wet and heavy. We recommend snow-blowing the snow. If you are not able to please be extremely careful shoveling. Take breaks, stay hydrated, shovel in layers, dress warm, etc…
Hire a neighborhood kid to shovel your snow, if possible .
If you are stuck in the snow, do not panic. Stay calm. This is why we recommend you bringing a shovel along with you when you travel. Or you can call a tow truck.
Also do not forget the odd/evening parking! Do not park on the roads, if you have a driveway. If you need to park on the road, then remember the odd/even parking. The quicker a snowplow can travel down a roadway, the quicker they can plow your road.
Last few seasons the plows in Rockford missed many residential roads. I can’t tell you how many times we had people contacting us on it. So expect the same thing again this season as well. They plow the major roads first, then the residential areas last. That is why it is important you do not park on the roads, so they can travel faster and are able to get more roads plowed.
Below is from the city of Rockford website
The End of Your Driveway
The City’s crews and contractors use side discharge plows. As the plows move forward, snow moves along the blade from the left to the right. The discharge from the blade is deposited along the curb or in the grass boulevard on the city right of way. This discharge, officially known as a “windrow”, ends up leaving a relatively small amount of snow in driveway approaches along the route. While we understand the aggravation this can cause, this natural result of plowing is unavoidable.
Your Mailbox
The goal of the Street Maintenance Department is to clear the streets for travel. No matter how hard we try, it is not possible to provide perfect conditions for your mail carrier. Final clearing adjacent to mailboxes is the responsibility of each resident.
Here’s the postcard we got from the postmaster last season regarding clearance to mailboxes:
Street Section Supervisor – (779) 348-7260
The City is responsible for ice and snow control on City streets.
Residents are responsible for their sidewalks and alleys.
Neither snow nor ice from sidewalks or private property shall be deposited in the street or piled so high as to obstruct motorists’ view.
Where ice cannot be removed, the business shall use sand, salt, or other suitable substance that will prevent the ice from being dangerous.
Odd/Even parking is in effect during most snow clearing operations. Changes at 8 am.
In order for our crews to remove snow and ice from city streets, we must have the ability to safely and effectively maneuver a plow up and down our streets. If a snow or ice storm reaches the point that streets are becoming difficult to clear, city officials can declare a Snow Emergency. A Snow Emergency requires that vehicles be parked on the odd side of the street when the date ends in an odd number and on the even side of the street when the date ends on an even number. For example, on January 5th you would park on the odd side of the street. Police and public works crews will issue parking tickets at the cost of $50.00 to vehicles that are parked on the wrong side of the street. It’s safe to assume that if it’s snowing the Odd/Even Parking is in effect.
Important Points To Remember
If your street is marked as “No Parking” on one side of the street, the Snow Emergency Declaration allows you to park legally in the restricted area during the time that the Snow Emergency Declaration is in effect.
The Odd/Even Parking is in effect so that plows can safely go down the streets. The next day when the parking changes, to the other side of the street, the plows may or may not return to clear the other side. If at all possible, please remove your vehicle from the street.
Do not assume that you can move your car when the street is plowed. Your car must remain parked appropriately until after the Snow Emergency has been lifted.
All vehicles must be moved to the correct side of the street at 8:00 a.m.
We hope everyone stays safe and prepare for the possibility of this storm. And if you must travel, please be very careful and follow some of the tips above.
Rockford Scanner.Rockford’s Leading Online News Site!
Winter Storm WARNING
Until Nov. 26th at 12 am.
A strong low pressure system will bring heavy snowfall to portions of the area Sunday into Sunday night. Rain is expected to quickly transition to snow from northwest to southeast, with rapidly deteriorating conditions accompanying this change.
Snowfall rates of 1 to as much as 2 inches per hour will be possible after this transition. Any minor shift in the track of the low pressure system may affect snowfall totals, however, significant impacts are expected for much of the area Sunday afternoon and evening.
Sunday…
Elevated Non Thunderstorm Wind Risk.
Significant Snow Risk.
DISCUSSION:
An early season winter storm will impact portions of northern
Illinois and northwest Indiana bringing heavy snowfall to the
region. Snow covered roads and drastically reduced visibility
will result in dangerous travel conditions. Snow accumulation in
excess of six inches is likely for areas near and northwest of
I-55 with amounts quickly tapering to the southeast. Strong north
winds developing later in the day Sunday may result in blowing and
drifting snow. Large waves battering the shores of Lake Michigan
may also produced localized lake shore flooding.
WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH
SUNDAY EVENING…
* WHAT…Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations in excess
of 6 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
* WHERE…Portions of north central and northeast Illinois.
* WHEN…From Sunday morning through Sunday evening.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Travel could be very difficult. Snow
covered roads and significantly reduced visibility are possible.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Winter Storm Watch means there is potential for significant
snow, sleet or ice accumulations that may impact travel. Continue
to monitor the latest forecasts.
9am 11/24 update: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall and Will counties added to the Winter Storm Watch.
Breezy and mild conditions will continue today. An early season winter storm will bring several inches of accumulating snow and strong winds across portions of northern Illinois Sunday morning into Sunday evening. Adverse winter weather is also possible outside of the Winter Storm Watch counties Sunday evening. In the wake of the storm system, unseasonably cold conditions are in store to start the last work week of November.
DISCUSSION:
A strong winter storm will move through the region Sunday and
Sunday night. A mix of rain and snow is expected to change to
heavy wet snow during the day across north central Illinois, with
the rain snow line moving southeast across the remainder of the
outlook area during the afternoon and early evening hours.
Heavy wet snow accumulations in excess of 6 inches are possible
primarily northwest of a Peru to Chicago Illinois line, with
amounts decreasing quickly to the southeast. In addition to the
accumulating snow, northerly winds will become very gusty Sunday
afternoon and night, with gusts of 35 to 40 mph possible. This may
produce blowing and drifting snow, further impacting travel.
While we are still waiting on the GFS and ECMWF 12z runs, several
of the near term models are attempting to hone in on the axis of
heaviest snow and strong winds on Sunday. The general consensus to
this point has been through an axis northwest of Chicago. While
this is still generally the case, especially given the thermal
profiles, the latest NAM, the ECMWF (numerous runs to this point),
and some of the WRF NMM/ARW models suggest an axis between I-90/88
and I-80 could certainly be the favored corridor.
Once rain changes over to snow, it will likely be coming down
very hard, so in spite of the marginal surface temperatures to
start, snow once it starts to fall will rapidly accumulate with
heavy, wet slushy snow. While exact transition times are up in
the air, travelers should be prepared from mid morning northwest
to early to mid afternoon across portions of the Chicago metro,
for a quick transition/deterioration, given the challenges on
exact transition/Snow onset time.
In addition, strong winds will eventually accompany the heavy
snow, so even with snow amounts in question, heavy snow rates and
strong winds will make for very hazardous travel on a busy travel
day. Given the signal for a possibly farther south corridor, we
have expanded the Winter Storm Watch to include a tier of counties
farther south and east with this morning update. These counties
start and end a bit later than the counties farther west.
