5 Inches Of Snow Possible As Power Outages Hit Illinois

ILLINOIS — Chicago-area residents woke up to their first snowfall of the season Wednesday morning, and the wintry weather has left more than 6,000 customers across the state without power, according to ComEd. To the west of Chicago, the National Weather Service said accumulations of 2 to 5 inches are possible. Closer to Chicago, 2 to 4 inches of snow are possible.

Originally issued for the western counties of La Salle, Kendall, Grundy and Livingston, the weather service has extended the winter weather advisory into Cook, Will and DuPage counties until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The weather service said wet snow is expected, occasionally mixing with sleet. For western portions of Cook County from O'Hare to Oak Lawn, total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are expected. For the southwest counties, a total of 2 to 4 inches of snow is expected, with local amounts up to 5 inches.

There will be locally heavy snow on either side of a line running from La Salle to Aurora. The weather service said the precipitation will mix with snow near and north of Interstate 80 and will change to snow near the I-88 corridor west of I-355 after midnight.

If that wasn't enough snow in the forecast, the weather service said there is a strong storm system expected Thursday and Thursday night that also will bring a mix of rain and snow to the area.

Most of the area has a 60 to 70 percent chance of seeing accumulations greater than an inch of snow on Halloween, the weather service said.

Power outages

As of early Wednesday morning, ComEd said nearly 6,100 Illinois customers were without power. That included:

• 258 in Aurora
• 73 in Clarendon Hills
• 105 in Downers Grove Township
• 80 in Elmhurst
• 772 in Glen Ellyn
• 1,873 in La Grange
• 725 in La Grange Park
• 565 in Lemont
• 178 in Lemont Township
• 58 in Oakbrook Terrace
• 182 in Villa Park