Heavy Snow, Cook
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
Heavy Snow in Illinois, March 9, 1998
A strong low pressure system brought a late winter storm to northeast Illinois the morning of March 9th. , took an east-northeast track, reaching central Illinois by the evening of the 8th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 11
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system brought a late winter storm to northeast Illinois the morning of March 9th. The low, which originated in the southwestern U.S., took an east-northeast track, reaching central Illinois by the evening of the 8th. Precipitation began in the form of rain out ahead of this system, and then changed over to heavy snow in the pre-dawn hours on the 9th. The heavy snow continued through the morning hours and had ended by noon. Six to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow fell across much of northeast Illinois. Strong winds combined with the heavy snow damaged power lines and tree limbs throughout northeast Illinois. More than 300,000 households had lost power, with some places without electricity for up to 4 days. Along Lake Michigan, high winds generated high waves, which flooded and closed sections of Lake Shore Drive and also caused beach erosion and lakefront park damage. Estimated damage to the lakefront parks alone totaled nearly half a million dollars. Heavier snowfall totals reported:Will County: Peotone-12 inches, Crete-11 inches, NWS office/ Romeoville-9 inches, Manhattan-8 inches,and in Plainfield-8 inches.Cook County: Midway Airport-11 inches, Park Forest-9 inches, and O'hare Airport-6 inches.DuPage County: Winfield-8 inches, Wheaton-7 inches, Downers Grove-6 inches, Geneva-6 inches and in Aurora-6 inches.Kankakee: Bourbannais-8 inches and Kankakee-8 inches.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
11 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Du Page
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Du Page forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.852, -88.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Ford
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Ford forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.597, -88.223 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Grundy
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Grundy forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.285, -88.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Iroquois
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Iroquois forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.747, -87.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Kane
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Kane forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.939, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Kankakee
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Kankakee forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.138, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Kendall
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Kendall forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.591, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, La Salle
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- La Salle forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 41.344, -88.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Lake
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Lake forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Livingston
- When
- March 9, 4:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Livingston forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.892, -88.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Tornado in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Cold in Michigan, March 9, 1998
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Tornadoes in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Michigan, March 9, 1998
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, March 9, 1998
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, March 9, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 9, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 9, 1998
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 1998
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5631664, 5631665, 5631666, 5631667, 5631668, 5631669, 5631670, 5631671, 5631672, 5631673, 5631674.