ST. LOUIS — Freezing rain caused multi-car traffic crashes on area highways Sunday night and early Monday.
Crash reports began coming in around 6 p.m., closing highways for hours and snarling traffic, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Early Monday, police were seeing several vehicles sliding off slippery roads.
No serious injuries have been reported.
• Check the latest local school and business closings
MoDOT said the roads at sunup were mostly or completely covered by the sleet and snow mix. “It’s like a sheet of ice,” one trooper said just before 8 a.m. Monday.
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One crash at 6:50 p.m. Sunday on westbound Interstate 64 near Maryville Centre Drive involved up to 30 cars, according to Jeff Jones, a reporter for the Belleville News Democrat who suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Westbound I-44 was closed near Route 100 in Franklin County at one point Sunday. In St. Louis County, westbound I-64 at Timberlake Manor Parkway, westbound I-270 at Route 367 and eastbound I-64 near I-270 saw closures.
The ramps connecting interstates 270 and 170 experienced shutdowns, as well as southbound I-170 near Airport Road.
“Do not, no matter what, under any circumstances, get on 40 west of 270,” Jones shared on Twitter. “The road is black ice.”
In St. Charles County, eastbound I-70 in St. Charles County was closed near Route K. Several other crashes also caused delays.
The National Weather Service placed the St. Louis area under a winter weather advisory from 6 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m. Monday, as a cold front ushered in frigid temperatures.
The forecast was calling for a 60% chance of a light mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and drizzle overnight that could cause roads to quickly become hazardous, especially on bridges and overpasses. Little to no accumulation is expected.
The work week will also start off with below-freezing temperatures. Highs Monday and Tuesday are expected to only reach 26 and 27 degrees. Lows will be in the teens, according the National Weather Service.
Monday night will see a 30% chance of snow, mainly before midnight.
Those in need of shelter or who see someone in need can call 211 to connect to available resources.
The St. Patrick Center last week opened a new 24-hour safe haven called Grace House in the city’s Old North neighborhood, according to the agency’s social media posts. Grace House will provide wrap-around services such as help with mental health and substance use disorders for those who may struggle in traditional shelters.
• Check the latest local school and business closings
Winter weather can bring cold temperatures, power failure, loss of communication services, and slick, icy roads. These are a few tips that can keep you safe.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — As recovery efforts continue after last week’s power atmospheric river, the Bay Area will once again get pummeled by back-to-back storms increasing the threat of flooding across the region.
LIVE: Track rain in San Francisco Bay Area with Live Doppler 7
ABC7 weather anchor Spencer Christian says our second of two storms will arrive overnight and will be a Level 2 on the exclusive ABC7 News Storm Impact Scale.
On Monday, the San Lorenzo River reached major flood stage in the Santa Cruz Mountains causing evacuations near Felton.
A Flood Warning is in effect for the Guadalupe River above the Almaden Expressway. It’s expected to have minor flooding Monday morning as the river crests at 11 a.m.
The Russian River near Guerneville is expected to have minor flooding early Tuesday morning cresting at 32 feet which is the flood stage.
A Flood Watch is in effect for the entire region until Tuesday afternoon for new areas of flooding.
Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
Sacramento — Crews in Northern California were still scrambling early Monday to clean up the disastrous effects of record rainfall before another weather system moves in from the Pacific this week. A New Year’s storm brought deadly flooding, high winds and landslides, and a deep layer of heavy snow to some areas, shutting down freeways and stranding drivers.
The immediate concern on Monday morning around Sacramento was breached levees, several of which were threatening to flood more roadways.
Many residents in Sacramento County were already under evacuation orders after the historic rains breached the levees, with authorities warning that the situation remained “incredibly dangerous.”
Massive storms batter California with heavy rain, wind and power outages
02:26
The fear is that swollen rivers could keep rising this week after they overflowed onto nearby roads. First responders rescued at least a dozen people stranded in vehicles over the weekend, with at least one person dying near the town of Wilton after trying to drive through high water.
Neighborhoods across Northern California have been submerged and landslides have blocked roads. Powerful wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour brought trees down on power lines, leaving tens of thousands of people in the dark.
A view of landslide on highway 92 West in San Mateo County, as heavy rains hit the West Coast of California, December 31, 2022.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Further south in the San Francisco Bay Area, the iconic Fisherman’s Wharf experienced its wettest day in nearly 30 years, and the Oakland Zoo was set to be closed for at least two weeks after a huge sinkhole collapsed at its entrance.
The atmospheric river brought more than eight feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains, shutting down roads and even closing many ski resorts.
As the system heads east through the Rockies, avalanche warnings were already in effect after one skier was killed near Breckenridge, Colorado, and another avalanche was caught on camera from downtown Telluride over the weekend.
First Alert Weather Day Monday for freezing rain and snow
03:37
There was one glimmer of hope brought by all the extreme weather in California, however: The storm system may have provided some desperately needed replenishment of drought-stricken reservoirs and mountain snowpacks.
But meteorologists said it was too early to determine whether this week’s storms will have any positive lasting impact.
Jonathan Vigliotti
Jonathan Vigliotti is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles. He previously served as a foreign correspondent for the network’s London bureau.
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A frigid winter storm has swept across the country, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and leaving millions of people on edge about the possibility of blackouts over the Christmas holiday weekend.
The storm unleashed its full fury on Buffalo, New York, with hurricane-force winds causing whiteout conditions. Emergency response efforts were paralyzed, and the city’s international airport was shut down.
CBS News has confirmed at least 20 weather-related deaths from the storm nationwide. At least three people died in the Buffalo area, including two who suffered medical emergencies in their homes and couldn’t be saved because emergency crews were unable to reach them amid historic blizzard conditions.
As millions of Americans were traveling ahead of Christmas, more than 3,400 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Saturday, and another 1,300 as of 7 a.m. ET Sunday, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Airlines were playing catch-up with crew shortages and de-icing slowing the return to normal, CBS News correspondent Naomi Ruchim reported. In Seattle, an ice storm shut down multiple runways.
A bobcat makes its way to help dig out abandoned vehicles along the Lake Erie shoreline on Dec. 24, 2022 in Hamburg, New York, during a powerful winter storm.
John Normile / Getty Images
As of Saturday night, at least 345,000 customers were without power nationwide, according to the outage tracking site PowerOutage.us. Of those, more than 170,000 were in the New England region.
Deep snow, single-digit temperatures and day-old power outages sent Buffalo residents scrambling Saturday to get out of their houses to anywhere that had heat. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the Buffalo Niagara International Airport would be closed through Monday morning and almost every fire truck in the city was stranded in the snow.
“No matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot get through the conditions as we speak,” Hochul said.
Forecasters said 28 inches of snow had already accumulated as of Saturday in Buffalo — part of an area that saw 6 feet fall just over a month ago, resulting in three deaths. More is expected overnight.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the blizzard may be “the worst storm in our community’s history.” He said it was taking ambulances over three hours to do one trip to a hospital. Plows were on the roads, but large snow drifts, abandoned cars and downed power lines were slowing progress.
Ice covers Hoak’s restaurant along the Lake Erie shoreline on December 24, 2022, in Hamburg, New York.
John Normile/Getty Images
Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold also knocked out power in places from Maine to Seattle, while a major electricity grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern U.S. that rolling blackouts might be required.
Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are having difficulty operating in the frigid weather and has asked residents in 13 states to conserve electricity through at least Christmas morning. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to 10 million people in the state and parts of six surrounding ones, directed local power companies to implement planned interruptions but ended the measure by Saturday afternoon. The start of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans’ game in Nashville was delayed an hour by a planned power outage.
PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states and and Washington, D.C., also warned rolling blackouts might be required.
Powerful storm blankets much of the U.S.
01:04
In North Carolina, 169,000 customers were without power Saturday afternoon, down from a peak of more than 485,000, but utility officials said rolling blackouts would continue for “the next few days.”
Those without power included James Reynolds of Greensboro, who said his housemate, a 70-year-old with diabetes and severe arthritis, spent the morning bundled beside a kerosene heater with indoor temperatures “hovering in the 50s.”
In Jackson, Mississippi, officials Saturday said the city’s water system – which partially collapsed in late August – was experiencing “fluctuating” pressure on Saturday afternoon amid frigid temperatures.
Some residents in Mississippi’s capital city may temporarily experience low water pressure, officials warned. Leading up to the “arctic blast” that brought dangerously cold air to Jackson, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba warned that the city’s the water distribution system remained a “huge vulnerability.”
Ticket prices at Soldier Field in Chicago Saturday plummeted faster than the temperature, with some seats going for $10 on third-party sites to see the Bears take on the Buffalo Bills. The temperature at kickoff was 9 degrees, with a minus-12 wind chill. It was Buffalo’s coldest road game by temperature since at least 1967.
In Montana, it’s been minus 40 degrees or worse for much of the week, with ranchers attempting to keep their cattle safe.
She’s brisk pic.twitter.com/kiNVkJqUV3
— Dirk O’Connor (@mtdirtfarmer) December 22, 2022
On the Ohio Turnpike, four died in a massive pileup Friday involving some 50 vehicles. A Kansas City, Missouri, driver was killed Thursday after skidding into a creek, and three others died Wednesday in separate crashes on icy northern Kansas roads.
A utility worker in Ohio was also killed Friday while trying to restore power, a company said. Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative said the 22-year-old died in “an electrical contact incident” near Pedro in Lawrence County.
A woman in Vermont died in a hospital Friday after a tree broke in the high winds and fell on her. Police in Colorado Springs said they found the dead body of a person who appeared to be homeless as subzero temperatures and snow descended upon the region. In Madison, Wisconsin, a 57-year-old woman died Friday after falling through the ice on a river, the Rock County Sheriff’s Office announced.
In Lansing, Michigan, an 82-year-old woman died after being found Friday morning curled up in the snow outside of her assisted living community, Bath Township police reported. A snowplow driver found the woman as temperatures hovered around 10 degrees.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said one person died in a traffic accident attributed to the weather in western Kentucky and a homeless person died in Louisville.
Along Interstate 71 in Kentucky, Terry Henderson and her husband, Rick, were stuck in a massive traffic jam caused by several accidents for 34 hours. The truck drivers weathered the wait in a rig outfitted with a diesel heater, a toilet and a refrigerator but nonetheless regretted trying to drive from Alabama to their home near Akron, Ohio, for Christmas.
“I wish we should have stayed,” said Terry Henderson, after they got moving again Saturday. “We should have sat.”
The storm was nearly unprecedented in its scope, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.
In Mexico, migrants camped near the U.S. border in unusually cold temperatures as they awaited a U.S. Supreme Court decision on pandemic-era restrictions that prevent many from seeking asylum. Dozens of migrants were also living and sleeping on streets of the Texas border city of El Paso in subfreezing temperatures waiting for shelters to open. Most were donning donated winter clothing they received from empathetic local residents and volunteers,
Forecasters said a bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.
Western New York often sees dramatic lake-effect snow, which is caused by cool air picking up moisture from the warm water, then dumping it on the land. But even area residents found conditions to be dire on Christmas Eve.
Latricia Stroud said she and her two daughters, 1 and 12, were stranded without heat or power in their Buffalo house since Friday afternoon, with the snow too deep to leave.
“I have to go over a snowbank to get out,” Stroud told the AP. “There’s a warming center, I just need a ride to get there.”
Concerns about illness or inflation aren’t stopping Americans from hitting the roads and airports this holiday season. But a massive winter storm might.
Forecasters predict an onslaught of heavy snow, ice, flooding and powerful winds from Thursday to Saturday in a broad swath of the country, from the Plains and Midwest to the East Coast. A surge of Arctic air will follow. The Christmas weekend could be the coldest in decades.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday the storm was so large and encompassing that around 190 million people are currently under some type of winter weather advisory.
In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a new record was set when the temperature dropped 40 degrees in just 30 minutes, according to the weather service.
Cities in Minnesota, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, have declared snow emergencies. On the East Coast, an NHL game between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning that was scheduled for the upstate New York team’s Keybank Center on Dec. 23 was postponed.
The cold front has arrived in Cheyenne and it is already a record-breaker! From 1:05 to 1:35, the temperature plunged from 43 to 3 degrees, a FOURTY-DEGREE drop in just 30 minutes! This shatters our previous 1-hour temp drop record of 37 degrees, and we are still dropping! #wywx pic.twitter.com/twQcNgy9qx
— NWS Cheyenne (@NWSCheyenne) December 21, 2022
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, announced it would close at 6 p.m. Thursday due to the incoming storm, and remain closed through at least Friday.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday a state of emergency for 77 counties ahead of the storm, tweeting that Oklahomans should “stay inside, check on your neighbors and stay safe.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a news conference Wednesday to address how the state planned to handle the bitter cold. In February of 2021, a winter storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of Texans for days. That power outage was subsequently blamed for more than 200 deaths.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson Tuesday also signed an executive order in preparation for the storm.
According to CBS Colorado, the city of Denver was developing a plan to ensure that the more than 1,300 migrants who have arrived in the city since Dec. 9 will have a safe haven from the cold. CBS Colorado reported that many came from warm climates like Venezuela and Nicaragua and did not have warm clothing.
Southwest Airlines said it has canceled 500 of its 4,000 scheduled flights on Thursday and Friday. The company said it wanted to maintain safe operations for both passengers and crew.
At least 145 flights into or out of Denver International Airport were canceled Wednesday as the city was hit with snow, gusty winds and freezing temperatures, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company. At least 219 flights into or out of Denver were expected to be canceled Thursday.
FlightAware was also expecting at least 364 flights to be canceled Thursday at O’Hare and Midway airports in Chicago. Earlier this week, those two airports said they had 350 pieces of snow removal equipment and 400,000 gallons of pavement de-icing fluid on hand for the storm.
Delta, American, United, Frontier, Alaska, Southwest and other airlines were waiving change fees and offering travelers the option of choosing new flights to avoid the bad weather.
Worker next to Alaska Airlines planes during a snow storm at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington on Dec. 20, 2022.
David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jean-Paul Blancq got to Boston’s Logan Airport a day early for his Thursday flight home to New Orleans. Blancq had to take a bus to Logan from his seasonal job in New Hampshire and was unsure of the storm’s path.
“I hope that my flight doesn’t get canceled because I don’t know what I’ll do,” Blancq said.
Bianca Thrasher-Starobin, a consultant and lobbyist in Atlanta, flew into New York Wednesday morning for an event and planned to fly out the same night.
“I’m trying to get out of this weather. I would have stayed longer but I just can’t take that chance,” she said as she raced through LaGuardia Airport.
Bus and train travelers were also bracing for cancellations and delays.
Flash freeze after rain, snow expected to impact travel
00:55
As of late Wednesday, Amtrak had canceled train service on around 30 routes, some through Dec. 25. Greyhound canceled bus service on 25 routes for Wednesday and Thursday, including service from Las Vegas to Denver, Denver to St. Louis and Chicago to Minneapolis, Memphis and Nashville.
The weather added uncertainty to what was expected to be a busy travel season. Earlier this month, AAA estimated that nearly 113 million people would travel 50 miles from home or more between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. That’s 4% higher than last year, although still short of the record 119 million in 2019.
Most planned to travel by car. About 6% will travel by air, AAA said. Either way, many travelers found themselves hastily changing their itineraries.
Joel Lustre originally planned to drive from Bloomington, Indiana, to McGregor, Iowa, on Thursday. But he shifted his work schedule, and his wife canceled an appointment so they could leave Wednesday and beat the storm.
In Montana, several ski areas announced closures Wednesday and Thursday due to the extremely cold temperatures and sustained winds. Others scaled back offerings. Schools were also closed due to the cold.
Authorities across the country are worried about the potential for power outages and warned people to take precautions to protect the elderly, the homeless and livestock — and, if possible, to postpone travel.
“If you don’t have to be out driving, especially on Friday, we ask that you don’t be out there,” said Ron Brundidge, Detroit’s public works director. Brundidge said 50 trucks will be out salting major roads on around-the-clock shifts once expected rain turns to snow on Friday.
Kelli Larkin arrived Wednesday from Florida for a holiday trip to New York. She plans to fly back Saturday night but said she’ll watch the forecast and change her return flight if she has to.
“It’s a little concerning,” she said. “We’ve got to play it by ear.”
Kurt Ebenhoch, a consumer travel advocate and former airline executive, said fee waivers give airline passengers valuable time ahead of a storm to figure out alternate days and routes. But consumers should read the fine print carefully. Airlines might charge the difference in fares if passengers book beyond a certain window, for example.
Ebenhoch stressed that passengers have the right to ask the airline to book them on a different airline’s flight if there are no options that meet their needs. And if the airline cancels the flight, consumers have the right to a full refund, not just credits for future travel.
The urge to travel and visit family and friends over the holidays appeared to outweigh concerns about illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said coronavirus cases and deaths have increased in recent weeks, and the trio of COVID-19, seasonal flu and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, continues to stress the health care system.
Inflation also didn’t seem to be cutting into holiday travel demand. The average round-trip airfare rose 22% to $397 in the second quarter of this year — the most recent period available — according to U.S. government data. That was higher than overall U.S. price inflation, which peaked at 9% in June.
Lindsey Roeschke, a travel and hospitality analyst with Morning Consult, a market research company, said travelers appear to be cutting back in other ways.
In a recent survey, Morning Consult found that 28% of U.S. travelers were planning a one-day trip for the holidays, up from 14% last year. There was also an uptick in the number of people planning to stay with friends or family instead of at hotels. Roeschke thinks higher prices were a factor.
CHICAGO (WLS) — A Chicago winter storm this week is forecast to dump several inches of snow on the area on Thursday and Friday ahead of the Christmas holiday, and bring very strong winds and dangerous wind chills.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the entire Chicago area and northwest Indiana.
The alert is in effect from 9 a.m. Thursday until Saturday at 6 a.m. for DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Livingston and McHenry counties. For the rest of the Chicago area, the alert is in effect from noon Thursday until 6 a.m. Saturday, with the alert starting at 3 p.m. for areas in northwest Indiana.
ABC7 Chicago Meteorologist Larry Mowry said the timing of the storm has moved up, and it is now expected to hit earlier in the day on Thursday. That means the western suburbs could start seeing snow by 9 a.m. Thursday, with the city seeing snow by noon and northwest Indiana by 3 p.m.
Models show much lower snow totals than predicted Monday, when models were predicting up to 19 inches of snow in some areas near the lake. Now the models are showing a range of 3 to 8 inches, with many areas seeing less than 6 inches of snow, Mowry said.
What can I do if my flight is canceled, delayed? How to prepare for likely 2022 holiday travel mess
But it will be difficult to measure the exact amount of snowfall because extremely high winds, over 50 miles per hour, will be a major feature of the storm. They will lead to blizzard conditions and the threat of power outages, and extreme travel difficulties from blowing snow reducing visibility, Mowry said.
The possibility of power outages is particularly dangerous because the very high winds will compound extreme cold, producing wind chill temperatures around -20 to -30. After the storm, forecasted highs will struggle to climb out of the single digits, and night time lows are likely to be below zero.
At those temperatures, it is possible to get frostbite in as little as 10 to 20 minutes.
WATCH | Latest 7-day Chicago weather forecast
The forecast for this week has forced many holiday travelers to scramble to change their plans. Most airlines currently have weather waivers in place, which means you can change your flights for free if you have flexible travel plans.
Chicago warming centers available at 6 locations across city
Shopping, shoveling, salting: How people and officials are preparing for the storm
Salt trucks lined up in Elk Grove Village Tuesday like they were preparing for battle; and, in a sense, they were.
“Pretty much everybody can outsource everything else, but you can’t outsource snow removal. This is pretty much what our guys live for and look forward to all year long,” said Colby Basham of Elk Grove Village Public Works.
With plenty of lead time before the storm, they are spending some of it to load the tanks up with the beet juice that combines with salt to clear the roads.
The same could be seen in other suburbs like Oak Forest. Because it’s the first snow event of the season, most towns have a full supply of salt.
“Last year was so mild we have a full salt dome and another house full of salt as well, so we are pretty well stocked to get this season going,” said Vince Kilcullen, with Algonquin General Services.
Gas is another story. The high cost of diesel is much more than what many towns planned on, and likely to push budgets into the red.
Suburban public works directors are closely following the forecast, and took part in a call with the National Weather Service. Federal emergency management officials are urging people to be cautious and reconsider their travel plans.
In the city, folks flocked to hardware stores, supermarkets and the Mag Mile to prepare for the storm.
Many used Tuesday to stock up on provisions at bustling grocery stores, which are likely to get busier as the storm gets closer. And hardware stores like JC Licht Ace Hardware in Bridgeport said rock salt, snow melt and shovels have been selling fast. Snow throwers are especially popular, given the amount of snow expected.
“There’d been a shortage of snow throwers over the last couple years with the supply chain and with COVID, so now the vendors are starting to reload, now we’re back in stock, so we could be having some of the pent up demand from the last couple years, as well,” said Jeremy Melnick, VP of Hardware at JC Licht.
And last-minute shoppers as well as some who placed holiday gift orders online flocked to the stores, unable to wait any longer. Some were getting an earlier start than their usual Christmas Eve shopping plans, while others were no longer confident in their online orders arriving in time, so were out buying backup gifts.
ComEd said it is positioning people and equipment to be able to respond quickly to potential power outages.
“We are positioning our people and equipment to respond quickly and safely to any interruptions that result from this snowstorm,” said Terence Donnelly, president and COO of ComEd. “We realize that any interruption is an inconvenience to our customers, especially during the holidays. Avoiding power outages and restoring service quickly is critical. We have strengthened our system over the years to reduce the impacts a storm like this can have on our customers.”
ComEd customers can text OUT to 26633 (COMED) to report an outage and receive restoration information as well as following ComEd on Twitter or on Facebook. Customers can also call 1-800 EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661), or report outages via the website at ComEd.com/report or use the ComEd app.
ComEd warns people never to approach a downed power line and not to approach ComEd crews to ask them about restoration times as they may be working on live electrical equipment.
City leaders are set to talk at the Office of Emergency Management at 11 a.m. Wednesday to detail how Chicago is preparing for the storm.
What are criteria for a blizzard?
In order for a blizzard warning to be issued, the following conditions need to prevail for three hours or longer:
-The storm needs to have sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles-per-hour or greater
-Falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile
Stay tuned to ABC7 Eyewitness News and ABC7Chicago.com for the latest forecast and snowfall amounts as the winter storm approaches.
Cook County Radar DuPage County Radar Will County Radar Lake County Radar (IL) Kane County Radar Northwest Indiana Radar
CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago weather forecast this week shows a significant winter storm that has the potential to dump upwards of a foot of snow before Christmas.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the entire Chicago area and northwest Indiana from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Saturday.
ABC7 Meteorologist Tracy Butler says some light snow could begin Thursday afternoon, with heaviest snow coming Thursday night into the day on Friday.
High winds and frigid temperatures will also lead to blizzard-like conditions Thursday night into Friday morning.
Butler said the storm could bring a potential of 6 to 12 inches of snow by the weekend, with higher amounts possible further east from lake-effect snow.
WATCH | Latest 7-day Chicago weather forecast
High winds in excess of 55 mph are expected while the heaviest snow is falling, ABC7 Meteorologist Larry Mowry said, adding that he expects the Winter Storm Watch will be upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning or Blizzard Warning later in the week.
“The concern will be not only the snow that’s coming down, but the blowing snow, which will reduce visibility,” Mowry said. “And because the winds will be this strong, there is the threat of power outages Thursday night through the day on Friday.”
POLAR PLUNGE | 1st week of winter brings snow and bitterly cold temperatures
Mowry said the heavy snow and high winds will combine to create major travel impacts, with “extremely difficult to impossible travel from Thursday night through the day on Friday.”
Temps will also crash from the teens on Friday to single-digits over the weekend, with the high winds creating dangerously cold conditions. Friday will starts with wind chills as low as -20 and -30, and will stay well below zero through the day, Mowry said.
The forecast for this week has forced many holiday travelers to scramble to change their plans. Most airlines currently have weather waivers in place, which means you can change your flights for free if you have flexible travel plans.
Stay tuned to ABC7 Eyewitness News and ABC7Chicago.com for the latest forecast and snowfall amounts as the winter storm approaches.
Cook County Radar DuPage County Radar Will County Radar Lake County Radar (IL) Kane County Radar Northwest Indiana Radar
A winter storm packing high winds and potentially several feet of snow blew into the Sierra Nevada on Saturday, triggering thousands of power outages in California, closing a mountain highway at Lake Tahoe and prompting an avalanche warning in the backcountry. The storm is expected to bring as much as 4 feet of snow to the upper elevations around Lake Tahoe by Monday morning, the National Weather Service said.
A 250-mile stretch of the Sierra from north of Reno to south of Yosemite National Park was under a winter storm warning at least until Sunday.
“Travel will be very difficult to impossible with whiteout conditions,” the weather service said in Reno, where rain started falling Saturday.
A flood advisory was in effect from Sacramento to the California coast near San Francisco.
This image from a Caltrans traffic camera shows snow conditions on California SR-89 Snowman in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California, Dec. 10, 2022.
Caltrans via AP
The storm will impact the California coastline into the southwest this weekend with “heavy to excessive rainfall along the Golden State coastal areas and widespread heavy snow from the Sierra into much of the intermountain West,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. The excessive rainfall will affect the central California coast on Saturday, and Southern California around the greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas on Sunday.
The U.S. Forest Service issued an avalanche warning for the backcountry in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe where it said “several feet of new snow and strong winds will result in dangerous avalanche conditions.”
A stretch of California Highway 89 was closed due to heavy snow between Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe, California, the highway patrol said. Interstate 80 between Reno and Sacramento remained open but chains were required on tires for most vehicles.
More than 30,000 customers were without power in the Sacramento area at one point Saturday morning. It had been restored to all but about 3,300 by midday. But forecasters warned winds gusting up to 50 mph could bring down tree branches and power lines later in the day.
About 10 inches of snow already had fallen at Mammoth Mountain ski resort south of Yosemite where more than 10 feet of snow has been recorded since early November.
“It just seems like every week or so, another major storm rolls in,” resort spokeswoman Lauren Burke said.
The storm warning stretches into Sunday for most of the Sierra, and doesn’t expire until Monday around Tahoe.
As much as 18 to 28 inches of snow was forecast through the weekend at lake level, and up to 4 feet at elevations above 7,000 feet with 50 mph winds and gusts up to 100 mph.
On the Sierra’s eastern slope, a winter weather advisory runs from 10 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. for Reno, Sparks and Carson City, with snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches on valley floors and up to 8 inches above 5,000 feet.
The system will become a “large-scale and significant storm early next week” across the central and southern U.S. with heavy snow, rain and severe weather, according to the weather service. The snow is expected to spread into the mountains of the central Rockies and Arizona Sunday, with totals of 6 to 12 inches anticipated through early Monday morning, the weather service said.
Hurricane Ian’s “extremely dangerous” eyewall was moving onshore in southwest Florida late Wednesday morning, just hours after it grew into a Category 4 storm. It was packing sustained winds of 155 mph — making it just shy of a Category 5 hurricane, which is the most powerful storm possible.
Ian’s eyewall was moving onshore at Sanibel and Captiva islands and is forecast to make landfall Wednesday afternoon before moving over central Florida late Wednesday and Thursday, according to forecasters.
“Ian will cause catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding in the Florida peninsula soon,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. advisory.
About 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders as the hurricane started lashing the Florida peninsula with heavy rain and tropical-storm-force winds in the early hours of Wednesday. Strengthening of the storm overnight was “really, really significant,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference. And emergency management directors in southwest Florida were preparing for – and expecting – a Category 5 hurricane, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
“This is gonna be a nasty, nasty day – two days,” DeSantis said.
Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg were among the cities bracing for the worst of the storm, but the latest forecasts suggested Ian would make landfall slightly further south, with the Ft. Myers region at risk of a possible direct hit. Given the size and strength of the hurricane and the storm surge it’s expected to drive into coastal areas, officials were clear that much of Florida remained at risk.
Life-threatening impacts are expected and power outages are occurring.
Ian tore across western Cuba on Tuesday with sustained winds up to 125 mph. Damage from the storm knocked Cuba’s power grid offline, leaving the entire country in the dark Wednesday morning.
The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore on Hurricane Ian’s path
Tropical Storm Ian is expected to “rapidly strengthen” this weekend and could hit Florida early next week as a major hurricane, according to forecasters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Tropical Storm Ian was moving across the central Caribbean Sea. By late Saturday night, it was located 395 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, moving west at 13 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
“Ian is expected to become a hurricane on Sunday and reach major hurricane strength by late Monday before it reaches western Cuba,” the NHC said.
A Publix store in Metrowest was nearly sold out of water on Sept. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, as residents ready themselves ahead of Tropical Storm Ian, which is expected to make landfall in the state as a hurricane.
Ian was forecast to pass west of the Cayman Islands early Monday, and then near western Cuba Monday night, the NCH said. It could reach Florida by Tuesday, bringing the possibility of flash flooding to the Florida peninsula and the Florida Keys, the agency added.
“Additional flooding and rises on area streams and rivers across northern Florida and parts of the Southeast cannot be ruled out, especially in central Florida given already saturated antecedent conditions,” the NHC wrote in its Saturday night advisory.
John Cangialosi, a senior hurricane specialist with National Hurricane Center in Miami, said it is currently unclear exactly where Ian will hit hardest in Florida. He said residents should begin preparing for the storm, including gathering supplies for potential power outages.
“Too soon to say if it’s going to be a southeast Florida problem or a central Florida problem or just the entire state,” he said. “So at this point really the right message for those living in Florida is that you have to watch forecasts and get ready and prepare yourself for potential impact from this tropical system.”
In Pinellas Park, near Tampa, people were waiting in line at a Home Depot when it opened at 6 a.m., the Tampa Bay Times reported. Manager Wendy Macrini said the store had sold 600 cases of water by the early afternoon and ran out of generators.
People also were buying up plywood to put over their windows: “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” Matt Beaver, of Pinellas Park, told the Times.
On Friday, DeSantis signed an executive order issuing a state of emergency for 24 Florida counties that could be in the storm’s path. On Saturday, the state of emergency was expanded to cover the entire state. The order also places the Florida National Guard on standby. On Saturday night, the White House announced that President Biden had approved a federal emergency declaration for the state, which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate disaster relief efforts and provide assistance to protect lives and property.
The president postponed a scheduled Sept. 27 trip to Florida due to the storm.
The storm, forecast to make landfall along Florida’s West coast, poses risk of “dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong winds, hazardous seas, and isolated tornadic activity for Florida’s Peninsula and portions of the Florida Big Bend, North Florida, and Northeast Florida,” DeSantis said in his executive order Saturday.
He encouraged all Floridians “to make their preparations.”
Meanwhile, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands could receive anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of rain, the NHC forecasted. Cuba could see 4 to 8 inches, while southern Florida and the Florida could receive 2 to 4 inches.
High terrain areas in Jamaica and Cuba are at risk of flash flooding and mudslides, the NHC said. Cuba could see storm surges of 9 to 14 feet above normal when Ian hits Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
