Central IL - We're getting SLAMMED by an ice storm

[Beelzebud]

Power was off most of the night. I have part of a tree hanging on my power line. I'm surprised the damn thing hasn't snapped yet. I can hear the ice out there every time the wind blows.

It reminds me of that movie The Ice Storm, but without the key-party. :D

Tomorrow is going to SUCK.

[dionysus]

1. can't be too bad, you have the internets!!

just kidding

[Beelzebud]

4. LOL I'm amazed I still have my tubes!!!11

:)

[Monkeyman]

2. Its just started here fell on my ass taking out the garbage

Black Ice

[Sequoia]

54. That's the worst!

I lieved in Spokane, WA for a few years and hated that stuff. I'd come to work a complete wreck and let me tell you freeway traffic in Los Angeles while maddening cannot compare to the horrors of hitting black ice and sailing across the road into another car or hopefully a soft snow bank. I have no desire ever, ever to live in a snowbounund land again. All you dealing with this storm stay inside safe and warm. Catch up on your reading, light lamps and candles and make babies.

[elfin]

3. Milwaukee area here - You are getting the worst

of it -- but I have cancelled a meeting tomorrow for a volunteer project and stocked up in case it shifts farther north. I actually look forward to a whole day hunkered down with just my dog and doing holiday gift internet buying and finally decorating the house.

[hwmnbn]

5. All the newscasters here are freaking out......

in Chicago. O'Hare has cancelled all flights starting midnight. Army of salt trucks standing by. Nothing yet outside my window.

Hey, we've been there, done that before.

[Beelzebud]

6. I've never seen one this bad.

[Monkeyman]

7. 1967-1979

[Mugu]

11. I'm about 60 miles west of Chicago.

Nothing here yet even through the forecasts are ugly. Stay warm.

Regards,

Mugu

[Mugu]

37. 11:30PM and it's starting to snow here, not a lot ,

but snowing just the same (60 miles west of Chicago, 35 miles south of Wisconsin.)

Regards,

Mugu

[Mugu]

38. 11:55 and it appears to be over.

[Barnaby]

8. Sympathies from North Carolina

We get them often. I hope your connection stays on; isolation is the worst part.

[libnnc]

35. in NC too--ice storms suck big time

Snow is much more manageable.

[Neecy]

9. good luck

We're getting slammed by snow - we had your ice yesterday.

Last year I had a huge tree branch fall on my power line, and not only did it knock out my power for almost a week in zero weather but the force was such that it damaged my circuit box, causing me to have to have an electrician come out and replace it. Ice storms are so *not* fun. Take care and keep warm!

[Nickster]

10. Northern IL here. Just waiting to see how bad we get it. Hard to tell, all the

reports are different. It looks like I'll be in one of the 11-13 inches by tomorrow's morning commute time. I got myself a vacation day just in case, so I'm not too worried about it. Stopped at the video store before I got home and picked up a few movies to pass the time if it gets as bad as they say. That's assuming I have power! ACK! I just love winter.

[Mugu]

18. From the radar image it looks like it's going south of northern Illinois.

http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=dvn&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no Bummer, we could really use the moisture, my pond and trees are really hurting.

Regards,

Mugu

[Nickster]

22. Oh no, I wish it was moving away. It's been moving in a NE direction all day

It's gonna hit my area for sure.

[Bjornsdotter]

28. Chain O Lakes area here

...and nothing yet, however I have filled the buckets with water in case we lose our power. We have a well, no power no water (or toilets).

Should be interesting,
Cheers

[ProfessorGAC]

50. 50 Miles South Of Chicago

It's almost stopped here. It's snowing about 1/5th as hard as earlier. It looks to me like about 2 inches, tops. Gettin' windy though. Cold be some visibility issues later.
The Professor

[Nickster]

51. Looks like I still got a way to go. They just came by to start plowing on my street.

[ProfessorGAC]

55. Well, It Ain't Done

20 minutes after that other post, it started snowing again. Now, it's almost stopped. A last hurrah for the storm, i hope!
The Professor

[Jawja]

58. Stay warm,

Professor! :hi:

[ProfessorGAC]

60. As You Might Have Guessed. . .

. . . i work indoors, so i'm pretty toasty. (No, i didn't say toast-ed.)
The Professor

[stanwyck]

64. Yikes. 50 miles south of Chicago

is getting pretty darn close to my father and brother in Watseka.

[Up2Late]

12. Do you have to go to work? Here in Georgia, when we have an Ice Storm...

...everything shuts down until the ice melts.

And before you start with, "...people in Georgia can't drive on Ice or Snow..." Stop. I grew up in Northern Indiana and I don't dare go out after an Ice storm either. It's not that people can't drive on Ice, it's the hills. Trying to drive on Ice, when you have lots of hills with 6 to 10 degrees of slope everywhere you look, is just foolishness.

[Beelzebud]

13. Not going tomorrow. I've driven in GA. Mountain roads with snow on them are the worst!

[Monkeyman]

14. We go to work with 26 in of snow EKKK

[Rosemary2205]

15. I enjoyed the Superbowl ice storms.

No phone or power or going to work for 6 days - other than worrying over frozen pipes we had a ball "camping out" in the living room.

[Monkeyman]

16. Old Bar Song Time

Put another log on the fire cook me up some beacon and some beans

[SEONA]

17. Careful out there.....ice is difficult to deal with ...nt

[KharmaTrain]

20. Welcome To Du...On The Runways Of O'Hare...

Welcome To Du!!! :hi:

I've been watching the radar all day as this storm slowly works its way north. Looks like Champaign and Danville got hit hard. It's about 10pm here and no snow yet, but it looks like its picking up intensity as its moving this way. Here's the Chicago area radar:

?t=1049702273

Got the snowblower all gassed up and primed...

All be safe out there...winter has arrived.

:toast:

:hi:

[SEONA]

30. Thanks for the kind welcome! Glad to be part of DU!

Could you possibly change the radar so the storm stops before it comes into Ohio?

Again, thanks for the welcome!

[Beelzebud]

19. Wow, my deck table just got wiped out by a limb.... Yep. Tomorrow is going to suck.

I just hope the damn tree doesn't fall on the house...

[hwmnbn]

23. Was it wind or weight of ice?......

It was probably both but how gusty is it?

[Up2Late]

21. Wow! Check out all these storm warnings!!!

<http://www.storm2k.nhcwx.com/hw3.php?forecast=pass&pass=warningmap&s=us&size=640x480&key=0>

The link above is to Storm 2K, a great site for this kind of stuff. The map on this page is Clickable/interactive down to the County level (maybe even city level, I think).

[Warren DeMontague]

24. I was in Chicago during the winter of '79

man, was that a mess.

[Monkeyman]

27. Stuck on a loading dock for 24 hrs that day

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. It hit us here yesterday

and today we are getting snow - lots of it.

[poverlay]

26. Yes it's a horrible 40ish here in Phoenix. Not even a breeze. We're obviously

freezing.

Sorry, but we're lightweights. Heck I've never even been in an ice-storm!

Good luck. I've got to figure out whether or not to wear shorts with my sweater tomorrow or if a fleece sweatshirt is preferable to a light windbreaker... Hee hee... good luck

[MadHound]

29. You're probably going to get it awhile longer

I live in Mid Mo, and the ice storm started here around 2:30, and is still going. Sleeting heavily, and shortly we're supposed to get 14-18 inches of snow on top of the three inches of ice and sleet we already have. Don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, school is canceled. But actually I'm rather pleased, I finally get to use the snow blad for my tractor that I purchased over two years ago. The past two winters have been virtually snowless, so I get to play with my new toy tomorrow.

[karlrschneider]

31. We sent it up there from Oklahoma. (I was born in Centralia)

suck it up. :D

[I_Make_Mistakes]

32. I wish you the best. I grew up in the NE and not too much of it,

but my first job out of college was in Flint, MI. I remember, one storm that had people with out electricity for 2 friggin weeks! I was living in a hotel (temporary) and lucked out, well, they would've put us up somewhere that had electric, but I had never realized just how nasty ice storms are!

I hope that you guys get back on your feet with power soon!

[The Anti-Neo Con]

33. I'm in St. Louis.

We haven't had any snow yet, but there's at least a 2" accumulation of ice pellets on the ground. It's bad.

[Up2Late]

36. I'd take "...a 2" accumulation of ice pellets..." (sleet) any day over an Ice storm.

Anyone here remember (or live through) the 1998 Quebec Ice Storm?

Here's a few pictures I found:

[jeanarrett]

71. OMG yes, I remember that storm.

They had it really bad! I was amazed at the damage ice could do!

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

34. It seems to be sleeting right now here in the near southwestern burbs of

Chicago. There's a light coating of ice/snow on the back window of my car out in the parking lot.

The weather forecaster on our local NBC station at 10:00 pm said not to be surprised if we get "thundersnow". He is still predicting 6-12" of snow by tomorrow afternoon. They also reported that most of the morning flights from ORD have already been cancelled for tomorrow.

I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow so if we don't lose power, I'll just stay at home, clean the house, listen to some Christmas music and check in here at DU periodically.

Also for all the Chicago area DU'ers the winter parking bans on streets start tonight at midnight. Don't park anywhere along a snow route tonight, because your car will be towed....

[symbolman]

39. Hey! Illinois Boy here..

I was RAISED in Illinois, Kankakee, until I got drafted in 1971 - a GREAT place to grow up, EXCEPT for when Mother Nature decided to Take YOU DOWN with a killer storm.

Hope you're okay.. I remember one back in '68 or so, when I was a kid delivering TV GUIDES for fun and profit and on my route (on foot) I STEPPED OFF A CAR, and didn't even know it was THERE :)

Just went back after more than 20 years and it was unseasonably warm, then it HAILED like crazy - and I saw a beautiful sunset, better than any I'd ever seen before.. Plus having lived on a Farm I noticed that a LOT of farmers had switched to WHEAT where I had lived, and EVERYONE planted Corn and Beans when I was a kid.

I've been thinking global warming. The weather was like Clockwork when I was a kid there, and it looks to me like all weather has shifted One Planting Zone North all over the country, hence the Wheat where there was none 30 some years ago.

But we DID always have a White Christmas, at least BY Christmas Eve. Looks like You're getting hammered Early, eh?

Hope all is well, it can get scary, especially when the temps DIVE there. All the best, keep WARM!

[stanwyck]

47. Then you've probably heard of my hometown

Watseka! I used to go to Kankakee all the time to shop, go to the movies, and visit the orthodontist. All the stuff we didn't have in our little town. Yep. Kankakee was the big city.
We shopped at Aldens and went to the movies at the Paramount.

[Annces]

48. I love that name - Kankakee n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

57. I Live 16 Miles From There!

We do most of our shopping in Kankakee. My bandmates (in a band prior to working with me) used to play at the big lounge in the bowling alley in Watseka.
The Professor

[stanwyck]

65. Watseka Warrior here

and I've spent many hours at the bowling alley -- even some bowling.
We shopped in Kankakee also. And went to the orthodontist and eye doctor.
I still go back to Watseka every year because my father, now in a retirement home, and my brother live there.
The prairie: where you can watch your dog run away, for three days.

[Tinksrival]

40. Hey Beelzebud

Are you still with us? My daughter was thinking about traveling from the Chicago burbs to SIU in Carbondale. How's it looking down there?

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

41. Not Beelzebud here, but I wouldn't recommend anyone traveling/driving

downstate on I-57 or I-55 tomorrow, unless this trip is for some sort of emergency. From what I saw on the radar on the 10:00 pm news here in Chicago, this ice storm/snow storm is following a path down both of them.

[Tinksrival]

45. Thanks Mo!

Weather she likes it or not.......it's not happening! (misspelling intentional) HAHA!!

[liberaltrucker]

42. Oh..........SHIT!

I just got a load from Cleveland to Omaha.

:cry:

[The Anti-Neo Con]

43. Be careful man. n/t

[liberaltrucker]

44. Always

Thanks

[knitter4democracy]

49. Oh no!!

You be super careful. Can it be put off to Monday at all? Even tomorrow would be better.

[stanwyck]

46. Where in central Illinois? My father, brother

live in the small town of Watseka - about 100 miles south of Chicago, close to the Indiana border. (that's where I grew up - farm land).

[in_cog_ni_to]

62. No kidding?! Then you have to be familiar with my town.

Bourbonnais...Home of the Chicago Bears Training Camp!;)

[stanwyck]

63. Absolutely! We always

referred to Bradley-Bourbonnais...not sure why. I drive right by there after I fly into O'Hare and then drive down state.
The beautiful (and I'm serious - it's beautiful) prairie.

[in_cog_ni_to]

68. Yup.gotta go by Bourbonnais to get to get to Watseka..

Nice to meet you!:hi: You grew up in Watseka, eh? I grew up in Herscher/Limestone. Didn't Herscher and Watseka played against each other in football, baseball and track? I think they did. That was a LONG time ago.:)

[ProfessorGAC]

70. Too Bad You Guys Don't Live A Little Farther North

Then we'd REALLY be neighbors! As in practically next door!
The Professor

[in_cog_ni_to]

73. I know! So you made it home from the Northern burbs OK?

How much snow did Wilmington get?

[stanwyck]

75. Oh, yeah. We played Herscher

usually in holiday tournaments (basketball)-- not so much the regular season.
I'm not sure I remember accurately...but I'm sure we kicked your butts every time.
But, like you say, that was a LONG time ago.
Nice to meet you, too.
Gotta love Illinois - a beautiful blue state. I'm stuck in the reddest of the red states - Georgia. But my little area is blue (Cynthia McKinney's district).

[madokie]

52. that was yesterday for us.

I brought the battery from our boat in to use for power to run our pellet stove in case of a power outage, so far so good. Today its clear as a crystal and the ice is melting even though it is still 28 degrees.

stay in and stay warm

[PVnRT]

53. Of course, until it hits the East Coast, it's only a minor story

n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

56. Yeah, There's Only 10 Million Of Us Here

So, how important can it be?
The Professor

[PVnRT]

66. But it's not NEW YORK

When it hits NEW YORK it's a CRISIS of INFINITE EVIL. At least, that's always the impression I get from the news media, probably becaue that's where they live.

[in_cog_ni_to]

59. You must be near me. We actually got pretty lucky compared to Chicago.

:) We had all sleet until 7:00 this morning and the snow started flying, but has since stopped. The roads were slushy, but not as bad as I thought they'd be. My Prius handled the road extremely well....our first winter drive with it and I was so relieved to make it back up my STEEP, ice covered drive this morning. It's windy as hell here too and COLD!

[kentuck]

61. It hit us in Colorado two days ago...

Night before last, the temp dropped to -1 degree....the roads were very slick....had about 4" of snow in the Springs.

[Nickster]

67. There's sunlight! YAY! Looks like it's all done finally! Just finished up shoveling n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

69. Sun's Been Up Down Here For About 2 Hours

Ended before 1pm. We only got about 1.5" Since it's slushy, i'm not shoveling it. Too dangerous.
The Professor

[LSK]

72. I am the only one at work today

Big snow storm in Chicagoland. I live really close thou.

[NoSheep]

74. Clearly, You need beer!