Winter Storm — Southern Cook County, Illinois

2021-01-30 to 2021-01-31 · Southern Cook County, Illinois

Wider weather episode

Heavy snow developed across northern Illinois during the afternoon of January 30th and continued into the afternoon of January 31st. Most of Will and Cook counties saw snowfall totals of 10 to 13 inches, with a few higher reports. The bulk of the rest of the Chicago metro area received 8 to 11 inches of snow with 6 to 9 inches across northwest Illinois. The snow was falling at over an inch per hour at the peak of the storm late in the evening of January 30th into the early morning of January 31st. The precipitation started as rain across LaSalle and Ford counties, changing to a period of freezing rain before changing to all snow. Snowfall amounts rapidly decreased across southern La Salle, Livingston, Ford and southwest Iroquois counties.

Storm total snowfall included 15.3 inches five miles southeast of Monee; 13.8 inches in Harwood Heights; 13.5 inches near Elmhurst; 12.9 inches at the National Weather Service office in Romeoville; 12.7 inches in Thornton; 12.4 inches near Evanston and Downers Grove; 12.0 inches in Deerfield; 11.3 inches three miles southwest of Chicago Midway Airport; 11.1 inches near Algonquin; 11.0 inches in Lansing; 10.8 inches at Chicago O'Hare Airport; 10.7 inches in Joliet; 10.5 inches in Libertyville; 10.3 inches in Kankakee; 10.0 inches in Naperville and near Somonauk; 9.8 inches in De Kalb and in Antioch; 9.1 inches near Waukegan; 8.8 inches near St. Charles; 8.5 inches in Aurora; 7.8 inches in Sycamore and Lake Summerset; 7.4 inches four miles northwest of Coal City and 6.8 inches at the Rockford Airport.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 936756. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.