Heavy lake-effect snow creates whiteout conditions, disrupts travel south of Chicago
Powerful bands of lake-effect snow brought traffic on parts of Interstate 57 (I-57) south of Chicago, Illinois, to a standstill amid whiteout conditions on the morning of November 10, 2025. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned drivers to use extreme caution as snowfall rates exceeded 7 cm/h (3 in/h) in localized bands, producing near-zero visibility and hazardous travel across portions of northeastern Illinois.
Image credit: NWS Chicago
Heavy lake-effect snow developed over the western Great Lakes region overnight into Monday morning, November 10, as cold air moved across the relatively warm surface of Lake Michigan. The resulting snow bands extended inland, aligning over portions of northeastern Illinois and producing intense snowfall along corridors including Interstate 57 south of Chicago.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Chicago, narrow snow bands produced snowfall rates of more than 7 cm/h (3 in/h), leading to dangerous to impossible travel conditions. The agency cautioned that travel was not advised within active lake-effect bands, which periodically refocused near Interstate 55 and 57 before shifting eastward later in the morning.
CBS Chicago reported that poor to no visibility was observed along I-57 south of the city during the early morning hours, with vehicles forced to slow or stop amid whiteout conditions. Local broadcasts showed vehicles stranded in accumulating snow while plows attempted to clear lanes.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) reported widespread snow-covered and slippery roadways across Cook, Will, and Kankakee counties. However, no official closure notice for I-57 was issued as of midday, and no major injury incidents had been confirmed.
Accumulations exceeded 25 cm (10 inches) in parts of Lake County and northwest Indiana, while areas closer to downtown Chicago saw several centimetres. The NWS bulletin “Lake-Effect Snow Gradually Ends Today” noted that snow showers would taper through the afternoon as winds shifted, bringing improved visibility and conditions later in the day.
The storm also caused broader regional disruption, including the cancellation of more than 450 flights at Chicago O’Hare and Midway airports and multiple school closures across the metropolitan area.
Lake-effect snow occurs when cold, dry air passes over the warmer lake surface, picking up moisture and heat. The air mass becomes saturated and unstable, forming narrow, intense snow bands that can deposit large amounts of snow over limited areas. Events like this are typical in early-season cold outbreaks around the Great Lakes.
As of late Monday, forecasters expected the lake-effect activity to shift southeast into Indiana and western Michigan as winds turned northerly, ending significant accumulation in the Chicago area.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- Flying glass cut a teacher in Russia but none of her 44 pupils, because when a meteor flashed across the sky in 2013, she told them to get under their desks Epicenter
- A South Dakota man put the widest and heaviest hailstone on US record in his freezer, and a power cut melted part of it before NOAA measured it at 8 inches across and nearly 2 pounds in 2010 Epicenter
- Black kites and brown falcons in northern Australia have been seen snatching smoldering sticks from wildfires, flying them into unburned grass and dropping them, starting new fires that send lizards, rodents and insects running straight toward the waiting birds Epicenter
- A levee protecting a highway north of San Francisco is pocked with animal burrows and only 3 feet wide in places, and a report warns this winter's El Niño could push water over the top Epicenter
