La Salle County weather: Snow starting to get heavy along Interstate 80, and to the west

The forecasters were largely correct. It has indeed snowed. It has indeed rained. And the precipitation did indeed vary from north to south.

At midday Tuesday, snow continued falling across Mendota, Ottawa and La Salle-Peru and interstates and state routes were mostly covered in snow. Streator, however, saw the overnight snowfall transition into rain earlier Tuesday.

The National Weather Service saw it all coming – they just couldn’t quite pinpoint which areas would get the snow and which would get the rain.

“It looks like most of your area is transitioning more to rain or a mix,” said Kevin Doom, a meteorologist in Romeoville, said at 6 a.m. “That’s expected to continue through the morning and into the afternoon before it turns back into snow. But a lot of what’s on the ground is going to get washed away.”

That played out in some parts of the Illinois Valley, though law enforcement officials remain grateful that school administrators and motorists played it safe and hunkered down despite what had been an uncertain forecast.

Forecasters had issued a variable forecast thanks to a shifting trajectory and temperatures hovering right around freezing. But problem spots were scarce from La Salle County to Will County. Illinois State Police Troop 5 reported one crash on Interstate 57 by the Manteno exit.

Mendota Police Chief Greg Kellen reported about 2½ inches of snow at 6 a.m., higher than in La Salle-Peru, and reported at 11 a.m. it still was snowing heavily. The sheer weight of the snow made it difficult to estimate total accumulation but Kellen renewed his caution that people with health problems avoid shoveling.

“Right now it’s heavy, heavy wet snow,” Kellen said. He remains concerned with the coming runoff that could turn to ice as temperatures plunge later in the week. “They’re talking Arctic cold coming in this weekend.”

The outlook might be concerning, but most of those interviewed were glad the worst-case scenario has not yet prevailed.

Lt. Doug Bernabei of the Peru Police Department said city plow drivers shot out of their beds early Tuesday and “really got out ahead of it.” City streets are merely wet, albeit with a few slick spots.

“I’m frankly shocked at how good it is compared to what was anticipated,” he said.

Utica Mayor David Stewart is similarly pleased that worst-case scenarios haven’t played out, at least not yet.

“I had the trucks out at 10 o’clock (Tuesday) night and they’ll be out there all day,” Stewart said. “As of now, it doesn’t look like a lot but there is more snow coming.”

The Utica Village Board was scheduled to meet Tuesday night and the agenda includes a public hearing that Stewart is reluctant to postpone. He reported at midday he means to proceed, “unless something drastic happens.”

The weather outlook might not have been ironclad but it was enough to put area residents on high alert. Grocery stories and pharmacies were notably busy Monday night as people snatched up staple foods and updated their prescriptions ahead of whatever Mother Nature had up her sleeve.

School administrators were taking no chances – most schools were closed or implemented e-learning – and motorists, according to one tow company, were cautious.

“I believe people were very prepared this morning,” said Carla Senica, a dispatcher at Senica Interstate Towing in La Salle. “It’s pretty quiet so far, but we’re gearing up for wind and snow this afternoon.”

La Salle County Sheriff Adam Diss agreed that motorists appeared to take the weather outlook seriously, evidenced by only a handful of spinouts and “no major accidents.”

“We’re hanging in there,” Diss said, “but we still encourage people to stay home because the snow is picking up.”