Lake-effect snow for parts of Chicago, Northwest Indiana
Winter weather advisories are no longer in effect for parts of Chicago and Northwest Indiana following bursts of lake-effect snow that fell since Friday.
The advisories were issued for Cook and Will counties in Illinois, and for Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. All of which expired just before noon. However, some flurries remain.
Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist said snow amounts so far have been the highest in Northwest Indiana. The highest total so far is 7 inches in South Haven. In Porter County, totals have ranged from 3 to 7 inches.
Less fell on the Illinois side, with Ohio Street Beach having 1.5 inches. Valparaiso is seeing the highest with 8 inches reported. The band should stall somewhere near the Illinois-Indiana state line, or just onshore, leading to higher accumulations.
As communities across Northwest Indiana deal with yet another round of lake-effect snow, some cities are trying to stretch limited salt supplies through the rest of winter.
In Hobart, public works crews said they're shifting their strategy after burning through most of their salt stockpile earlier this season.
As a solution to the limited supply, crews are now mixing in sand and beet juice and using salt only when conditions demand it.
Other cities, including Gary and Michigan City, said they were able to secure shipments ahead of this system, but are still monitoring use as they keep getting hit with rounds of snow this season.
Flight cancellations and delays at Chicago airports
As for flights at Chicago airports, according to the travel site FlightAware, as of 10:15 a.m., 37 flights were canceled, and 131 were delayed at O'Hare Airport, while just three were canceled and 15 were delayed at Midway Airport.
According to Kleist, snow rates should gradually decrease as the day goes on, and conditions will improve, and things dry out for the remainder of the weekend.
Chances for flurries are in the forecast for Monday morning. By Thursday and Friday, snow showers return to the Chicago area.
