About three inches of snow fell across the Chicago region, though the snow is expected to turn to freezing drizzle this morning, coating the area with ice.
The 2.7 inches at O'Hare International Airport tied the highest total for this year, according to the National Weather Service. Some flurries are still fallign so the total could tick upward by a tenth of an inch or two, said Ben Deubelbeiss, a NWS meteorologist.
Some of the snow in southern suburbs has already started turning to rain and might create a "light glaze" on the roadways, he said.
Dozens of schools closed or are delaying start times because of the storm.
The accumulation was more or less consistent across the area, from Rockford in north central Illinois east to Portage, Ind.
The weather caused between 20 and 30 spinouts on highways across the city and suburbs, according to state police, who described the conditions as "horrible."
State Police are in a "snow plan" and aren't responding to accidents without injuries - those are supposed to be reported later.
"It will be tapering off from the south in the next couple hours, possibly some freezing drizzle across whole area," said Mark Ratzer, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "We may end up coming in a little less."
The city of Chicago has sent 284 plows to work clearing main thoroughfares, according to the streets and sanitation department.
Temperatures today should peak around 34 degrees with winds gusting out of the east around 20 or 25 miles an hour.
"The wind should be diminishing today to around 10 miles an hour," Deubelbeiss said.
Flurries could linger into the weekend with a chance for light snow on Saturday. Deubelbeiss said he didn't expect any significant weather Sunday. High temperatures both days should be around 30, with lows in the low 20s and high teens both mornings.
Check back for more information.
Midwest storm hits Kansas hardest
A major winter storm blanketed states from Minnesota to Ohio with a mix of blinding snow, sleet and freezing rain Thursday and into Friday morning.
The same storm dumped more than a foot of snow in Kansas, stranded motorists on highways and forced airports to cancel hundreds of flights.
The storm is expected to eventually reach the East Coast this weekend, delivering heavy snow to parts of New England for a third straight weekend, from northern Connecticut to southern Maine.
Kansas bore the brunt of the storm, with up to 15 inches of snow in some parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service. A 200-mile stretch of Interstate 70 in central Kansas was closed and strewn with cars stuck in snow.
National Guard troops riding in Humvees were dispatched to look for stranded motorists along the interstate and other highways, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for Kansas emergency management services.
The fierce storm triggered severe thunderstorms from eastern Texas to Georgia.
Overnight snow hampering Chicago-area commute
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