A winter storm alert remained in effect throughout the Chicago area on Tuesday, as a major snowstorm continued to cover parts of the region, creating extremely dangerous conditions.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm alert for Kankakee, Kendall, Will, Grundy, Livingston and DuPage counties in Illinois, along with Lake, Newton and Jasper counties in northwest Indiana, which began Sunday night and will remain in effect until 9am on Tuesday.
Winter weather warnings are in effect in LaSalle, Kane, McHenry and DeKalb counties until 9am Tuesday, according to the NWS, while Cook and Lake counties in Illinois will remain under winter storm alert. until 12:00.
When a snowstorm began to hit the Chicago area on Monday, city officials deployed more than 300 plows and salt spreaders to keep roads clean and help people stay safe. Kate Chappell reports from NBC 5.
The NWS urged Illinois residents on Monday night to exercise extreme caution when traveling, predicting that the winter storm that strikes the region would be “reaching its peak of intensity” by the end of the night.
The storm, which has already shed more than a foot of snow in parts of the area, will hover around the area until Tuesday morning.
Lake and Cook counties are expected to experience the greatest impact of the storm, with snow from the lake effect contributing to locally higher total snowfalls. According to the NWS, several more inches of snow are possible before the storm leaves the area, with the highest expected totals within a five to ten mile radius of Lake Michigan.
At Chicago’s Midway Airport, 15.9 inches of snow fell, while 13 inches were reported in the southern suburb of Oak Lawn and 12.3 inches in Harwood Heights.
More snow combined with strong winds will cause visibility to remain low on the roads during Tuesday morning.
Additional snow totals of several centimeters are expected, with the largest accumulations along and east of Interstate 57.
Brant Miller