Blowing Snow Issues on Tuesday

Last weekend marked the Stateline's 3rd weekend for accumulating snow in the month of December. The Stateline saw anywhere between 2-8" of powdery snow over the weekend. While the snow has been over for a few days, its still causing a few problems on local roads.

A few small low pressure systems are riding the polar jet this week which is currently situated near the Canadian border, and while they pass north of us they create a strong pressure gradient over northern Illinois. A pressure gradient strengthens winds as the atmosphere tries to even out the difference.Southwest winds have been strong overnight and this morning, sustained anywhere between 15-25 mph. Because of that, and the powdery nature of the snow, there have been reports of blowing and drifting snow, especially in areas where there is little to block the wind. This causes snow covered roads making them harder to see and makes for slick roads, there have been reports of several cars in the ditch across the area. Because of that we kept the First Warn Weatherisk Moderate for Tuesday with southwest winds continuing to be breezy through the mid afternoon. This morning there have been reports of significant drifting on Hwy 20 and on Rt. 72.
Winds speeds will be monitored tonight and tomorrow as well for more potential issues.