UPDATE: 10:13 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — The overnight period between Thursday and Friday promises to be a busy one for Peoria metro snow plow crews and they’ll battle bitter cold conditions outside as they do their work.
So-called “snow fighters” in communities from Peoria to Washington, in rural Tazewell County and elsewhere have been busy for hours scraping deep layers of snow off of main arterial roadways, surface streets, avenues and highways.
In Peoria, contract snow plow drivers have been called in once again to assist with neighborhood street clearing.
“I’m pretty snowed in and there’s a car that’s stuck on my street out there,” said Peoria Mayor Rita Ali while speaking on WMBD’s “The Craig Collins Show”
She certainly wasn’t alone as 6 inches or more of snow accumulation Thursday meant near impossible neighborhood driving conditions for most area residents through the late night hours.
Washington public works director Kevin Schone also spoke with WMBD’s Craig Collins adding, “the wind is more of a factor and it’s coming at us a lot quicker than the last storm did” noting the difference between this week’s storm and the one which hit Central Illinois two weeks ago.
The City of Peoria has also released a reminder for local business owners about the penalties for failing to shovel sidewalks in proper time.
According to the release, all commercial property owners, including businesses, public and private schools, hospitals, and churches must remove snow from sidewalks on the public right-of-way adjacent to their business, “within 24 hours after the snow stops falling” for when there are six inches or less.
At the same time, those commercial property owners must clear the sidewalk “within 36 hours when accumulations (of snow) are six inches or more.”
According to the National Weather Service, a Winter Weather Warning for the Peoria metro area was allowed to expire at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Noncompliance with the city’s sidewalk snow shoveling rules could lead to a civil penalty of $50 to $100 depending on the length of the stretch of sidewalk in question.
Under the rules, the City says it can bring crews out to clear the snow for those commercial property owners, but it will also be at their own expense.
(Reporting by WMBD News Director Cooper Banks)
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UPDATE: 5:05 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — Howling 30 mph sustained wind gusts made driving treacherous in central Illinois mid-day Thursday, especially on rural roads and highways.
Driving U.S. 150 along the eastern shore of the Illinois River, one could see only small patches of pavement aside from relentless blowing snow, which had accumulated at a rate of roughly 1 inch per hour between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Traveling east on U.S. 24 and then southeast along IL Rt. 8 toward Washington, Illinois, some stretches of roadway were covered with an inch or more of snowfall with no pavement visible at all.
Highway and safety signs wobbled slightly under the weight of the heavy sustained wind and the only thing to bring comfort and safety was the assurance of a vehicle to the front and the hope it was traveling in the right direction.
A few brave drivers were still making their way throughout downtown Washington, even as the snowfall continued. Most made sure to avoid jack rabbit starts and hard stops, obviously well trained in such conditions.
The road to Morton, Illinois was certainly one of the more treacherous. A very small number of brave drivers encountered near white out conditions along S Main Street out of downtown Washington all the way south to U.S. 150 east of Morton.
At one point, it required a mix of attention on both the road and Smartphone GPS to ensure one remained on the paved roadway.
Interstate 74 was almost entirely snow covered near Morton, but for a single lane created by vehicles which had already been traveling the major highway for hours.
By the time drivers reached Peoria and the I-74 Murray Baker Bridge, snow-covered pavement turned mostly slush-covered and around the Sheridan Road overpass a number of lower profile, non-four-wheeled drive cars were spotted stuck and spun out in the middle travel lanes.
As forecast, snowfall was expected to continue through the late afternoon and early evening hours, with as much as 6 inches or more of snow accumulation possible.
(Reporting by WMBD News Director Cooper Banks)
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UPDATE: 2:09 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — The City of Peoria says Snow Fighters will be clearning main arterial roads until the snow stops and roads are clear, and will then shift to residential streets.
Peoria County and the cities of Peoria and East Peoria, have both issued Traffic Collision Alerts until further notice. Drivers getting into two-vehicle accidents are to exchange information, and them report to authorities when the alerts have ended. You’ll have 48 hours in Peoria County, 36 hours in Peoria and East Peoria.
Also, all Peoria Public Library branches are closed as of 1 p.m. Thursday.
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PEORIA, Ill. — A winter storm forecast to hit the Central Illinois region remained on the horizon for the early morning period Thursday, but forecasters have still expected heavy snowfall as the day continues to play out.
The National Weather Service says the height of the storm is now anticipated to hit in the afternoon and evening hours.
The Peoria metro is now forecast to receive anywhere between 4 and 8 inches of snow and forecasters say “strong gusty winds” from the north up to 40 mph will cause some whiteout conditions this afternoon and evening.
Chuck Collins, Chief Meteorologist with news partner 25 News, confirms that once the snow starts Thursday, it will keep the plows and street crews busy through the night.
He expects the area will see closer to between 5 and 9 inches of snow accumulation.
Forecasters expect wind chills will lower to around 10 below zero by tonight and into early Friday.
Collins adds, “Thundersnow can’t be ruled out. Don’t be surprised if you hear thunder with this snow.”
A Winter Storm Warning for the WMBD Listening area will remain in effect through 9 p.m. Thursday.
Forecasts had not called for any major ice accumulations throughout the day and despite some periods of overnight rain and freezing rain, roads remained in relatively passable condition early Thursday.
ORIGINAL STORY:
PEORIA, Ill. — With up to 9 inches of snow in the forecast before midnight Thursday, Peoria’s Snowfighters were out early pre-treating streets for possible refreezing before the expected snowfall later in the day.
Sie Maroon, with Peoria Public Works, told WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show”, they’re ready for what Mother Nature is about to hand out.
“We know it’s going to get heavy at times, and we’ve dealt with an inch an hour amounts before. We’re just rolling with the plows down and keeping things open…and when the snow lets up, we’ll get into the clean up phase, getting into the residential areas,” Maroon said.
Peoria’s city-wide parking ban remains in effect through 6 pm Saturday.
Residents are asked to move their vehicles from the streets to allow the plows to do their work.
“The parking ban actually helps us to do the work we need to do, without a lot of obstacles in the way. My hope is that we get through (plowing) this weekend early, and the sun comes out either Friday, Saturday or Sunday,” Maroon said.
Peoria has designated several downtown parking decks that residents can use free of charge during the city-wide parking ban.
Maroon asks drivers to proceed with caution as the snow falls and to watch out for plows on the road.
