Early-season lake-effect snow blankets Chicago and Great Lakes states
The season’s first measurable snow reached Chicago early Monday, November 10, 2025, as Arctic air swept across the Great Lakes, producing intense lake-effect snow bands over Lakes Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. Travel warnings were issued from Illinois to western New York, with authorities urging drivers to avoid non-essential travel.
Lake effect snow in New York. Credit: NYSDOT
Cold Arctic air moving over the comparatively warm Great Lakes triggered strong lake-effect snow bands early Monday, bringing the first measurable snowfall of the 2025–26 winter season to Chicago.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of the Chicago metropolitan area and parts of northwestern Indiana. Snowfall rates reached 2.5–7.6 cm/h (1–3 inches/hr) in the heaviest bands along the western shore of Lake Michigan, where near-zero visibility and slick roads led to hazardous travel conditions.
Forecast totals called for 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) of accumulation in favored zones, with localized amounts possibly going over 30 cm (12 inches).
Municipal crews deployed plows and salt trucks through the morning onto maintain primary routes, while several suburban school districts delayed openings and closures.
Similar lake-effect bands extended eastward across the Great Lakes basin. Lake-Effect Snow Warnings were in effect along Lakes Erie and Ontario, affecting parts of northeastern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York, where heavy bursts of snow were forecast to continue through Tuesday.
The early-season outbreak was caused by a sharp southward surge of Arctic air that entered the central United States over the weekend, following an active jet-stream pattern. The resulting temperature contrast between sub-freezing air aloft and lake surfaces near 9–11°C (48–52°F) enhanced vertical convection, generating the narrow, persistent snow bands characteristic of lake-effect events.
According to NWS Chicago, winds from the north-northwest concentrated snow bands across Cook and Lake counties in Illinois before gradually shifting eastward toward Porter County, Indiana.
Farther east, NWS Buffalo and Cleveland offices warned that snow squalls could produce rapid visibility drops and isolated power outages as gusts of 48–64 km/h (30–40 mph) were reported in exposed areas.
Temperatures across the region were expected to remain below freezing through mid-week, prolonging icy conditions on untreated surfaces.
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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