Some parts of Lake County saw nearly a foot of snow Sunday into Monday morning with dangerous road conditions causing numerous vehicle crashes and school closures.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a winter storm warning for Lake County early Sunday afternoon that was in effect from 9 p.m. Sunday until 9 a.m. Monday.
The warning said that dangerous to impossible travel conditions would develop across parts of Lake County due to intense lake effect snow.
Snow rates in excess of three inches per hour and localized snow accumulations in excess of 10 inches were possible, the NWS said.
Forecasters also warned of possible northerly wind gusts in excess of 30 mph.
The NWS reported that Winthrop Harbor had 10 inches of snowfall accumulation at 6 a.m. Monday, with Gurnee reporting five inches of snowfall as of 7 a.m.
6.5 inches of snow was reported south of Wadsworth around 8:30 a.m., 5.1 inches was reported north of Mundelein around 8 a.m. and 2.6 inches of snow was reported north of Buffalo Grove around 7 a.m.
The strong wind gusts led to greatly reduced visibility, especially near the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The impacted travel conditions on roadways in the county resulted in numerous vehicle crashes during the overnight hours into the morning.
A two-vehicle crash on Grand Avenue west of Dilleys Road in Gurnee led to multiple people being injured, some with serious injuries, around 9 p.m. Sunday.
Multiple crashes were reported on Interstate 94 throughout the county.
A crash on Route 45 north of Route 60 in Mundelein led to an electric pole and power lines coming down, resulting in an extended road closure.
Multiple non-injury crashes were also reported throughout the county. A rollover crash occurred at Route 60 and Route 41 in Lake Forest.
A three-vehicle crash at Old McHenry Road and Echo Lake Road in Hawthorn Woods around 9:15 p.m. Sunday led to two ambulances being called to the scene.
A three-vehicle crash was reported later around 11:30 p.m. on Route 12 north of Old Rand Road in Lake Zurich. A pickup truck left the roadway and the northbound lanes were shut down, with two ambulances being dispatched to the scene.
The highest snow totals from the lake effect snow impacted Lake County occurred near and east of Interstate 94, with considerably less snow on the western side of the county.
While some parts of the county received nearly 12 inches of snow, some areas of the county, including Fox Lake, saw no snow accumulation at all.
“Lake effect snow is often very localized, with conditions varying from safe to dangerous across just a few miles,” the NWS said.
The weather service said just after 7 a.m. Monday that lake effect snow would begin to shift southeastward across most of the Chicago area, especially across Lake and Cook counties.
Zion-Benton Township High School District 126, Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50, Gurnee School District 56 and Zion Elementary School District 6 announced they were closed on Monday due to the snow.
North Shore School District 112 and Township High School District 113 both announced delayed starts due to the snow.