Few accidents on Kane County roads Thursday afternoon as snow, wind and frigid temps arrive

As forecasted, snow began falling around 9 a.m. Thursday in Kane County, as a massive winter storm began making its way into northern Illinois. Snow is expected to fall into Thursday night, followed by frigid temperatures and high winds throughout Friday.

Blizzard conditions are expected because of blowing snow, along with dangerously cold wind chills as low as 30 to 40 below zero.

Kane County Undersheriff Amy Johnson said that as of noon Thursday, the sheriff’s office has responded to “only a handful of accidents.”

“As the weather continues on we will see the increase in accidents,” she said in an email. “We have the Office of Emergency Management out scouring some back county roads for a report each hour. So far slick conditions but only handful of accident calls. We are posting updates to road conditions on our social media too.”

As of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, no accidents have been reported in Elburn, Police Chief Nick Sikora said, and he’s “hoping it will stay that way.”

“The roads will ice up quickly with rapid freezing, and when the temperature drops tonight, the salt on the roads become ineffective,” he said. “Stay home if possible and stay warm. Right now, the snow is blowing sideways and the winds have picked up. Public Works is doing what they can to keep up, but it’s tough with wind blowing as snow continues.”

It’s a similar situation in Sugar Grove, which had its first accident around 4 p.m. Police Chief Pat Rollins said one accident is “not unusual.”

“Knock on wood, but so far, we don’t have a lot of disabled vehicles or slide-outs,” he said. “Our roads are still open, but snow is blowing across it. Our road crews have been keeping up, thankfully. I think most people heeded the warnings and are driving more carefully.”

Geneva has only had two accidents, both just before 4 p.m. Geneva police sergeant George Carbray said two accidents a day is “average” for his department.

“Sometimes when the weather is bad, people pay more attention and drive more carefully, and that’s what’s been going on so far,” he said. “So far, everything is running smoothly, but it’s starting to get more slick as it gets colder. Some of our bridges are bad, since they freeze first. Our guys are out plowing and salting, but sometimes it’s hard to keep up.”