Lake effect snow moves into NW Indiana after pummeling Chicago area

FOX 32 NEWS - Some parts of the Chicago area got more than a foot of snow over the past 48 hours, and now, Northwest Indiana is getting hit by the lake effect conditions.

Howling winds and whipping snow made it difficult to be outside Tuesday.

"It's crazy! The wind is blowing and it's cold, but it's still pretty,” said resident Nakia Sprouse.

Miller Beach, despite the wintry conditions, is a go to for many residents in Indiana. They like to watch the lake effect clouds roll up to the shoreline.

"It comes and goes, one minute it's sunny, like it is now and the next minute you get a ton of snow,” Sprouse said.

Snow plows and salt trucks cruised the streets of Gary prepping the roads for the rush hour commute. The National Weather Service strongly discouraged residents in Northwest Indiana to be on the roads because of the quickly changing and sometimes blinding snowy conditions.

The only reason why Gary resident Bruce Landrum stepped out his house was to retrieve a runaway trash can.

"I just remembered that I had to pick up my garbage can and this wind is howling from the north and it blew half way down the hill,” Landrum said.

After living in the area off of the lake for more than two decades, you get used to these conditions. However, it's a little more difficult when winter has spoiled everyone so far.

"It's pretty bad now because the wind is blowing pretty hard, the snow is coming down pretty hard and I guess we're being paid back for the mild winter,” Landrum said.

Indiana state police say so far, the night has been quiet on the roads. They do have patrols on extra shifts in case things get slick out there.

The major advice being dished out is to take it slow.

As for the Chicago area, some towns in the north suburbs got more than a foot of snow.

After two days of pummeling by a lake-effect system, nearly 8 inches of snow had piled up in Chicago by Tuesday evening.

A lake-effect snow warning remains in effect until 10 a.m. Wednesday in northwest Indiana, which could see up to a foot of snow in parts of Porter County, according to the National Weather Service.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, 7.7 inches of snow was measured at O’Hare International Airport dating back to Sunday night, forecasters said. At Midway International Airport, 7.3 inches were recorded. Most of that snow fell from Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Some northern suburbs in Lake County including Waukegan and Zion saw more than a foot of snow, while about 8 inches were measured in southwest suburban Oak Lawn. The lake-effect system had mostly moved out of the Chicago area by 5 p.m.

As the snow settled, 920 flights were canceled at O’Hare as of 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. Seventy-one were grounded at Midway, with minimal delays at both airports.

Wednesday is expected to be clear and sunny with a high of 28 degrees, before temperatures return to the 30s and 40s late in the week, forecasters said. There is a slight chance of snow on Thursday night before a rainy Friday morning.