Severe winter storm to hit US lower Great Lakes region

A section of Interstate 94 in southwestern MI was blocked after dozens of vehicles crashed amid heavy snowfall Friday.

Southwest told USA TODAY’s Today in the Sky blog that “due to the operational limitations created by the storm system”, it would suspend flights at Midway airport from 8 p.m. local time on Thursday through “at least” noon local time on Friday.

Most schools are closed. See full list here.

Tonight, snow likely, mainly after 3 a.m.

All evening programs at the North Adams Armory and skating rink are canceled.

Adams Community Bank closing at 3 p.m.

Newtown Choral Society has canceled tonight’s rehearsal. Furthermore, Rockford, South Beloit, and Beloit already have declared snow emergencies. That means no parking is allowed on city streets until noon on February 9.

The snow caused dozens of crashes on icy Chicago expressways as residents of the third-biggest USA city struggled to get to work and to dig out from a storm system that had stretched from Montana to MI. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office has urged people to drive safely and watch for snow plows on the roads.

The Weather Channel has named the storm Winter Storm Mateo.

Finally, as we look ahead to the aftermath and cleanup from this storm, we ask for everyone’s help with sidewalk clearing. On the other hand, over the last winters we haven’t had a snow at this level.

There’s a slight chance for snow on Tuesday with a high near 33, the Weather Service said. Trash pickup is still on schedule.

27 Storm Track meteorologist Branden Borremans said highs should be around 20 Thursday through Sunday, with overnight lows mostly in the single digits.

There could be a few leftover light snow showers on Sunday morning, but Saturday’s storm system will be another quick-mover.

While road crews sometimes pretreat roads with liquid sodium chloride before a big snow event to prevent snow from sticking to the pavement, Shirripa said that was not being done Thursday.

Staff with the roads department is working regular shifts until the snow begins to fall, in that case all available employees will be called to work throughout the storm to plow the roads.