Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 1 to 2, 1999

Name: Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 1 to 2, 1999
Start: 1999-01-01T19:00
End: 1999-01-02T22:00
Location: Illinois

January 1 to 2, 1999 · NWS LOT · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

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 powerful winter storm developed over the Texas panhandle and moved northeast through the Missouri bootheal, and then north northeast through eastern Illinois and into Michigan. Snow began accumulating in east central Illinois and areas south of Chicago during the early evening hours of New Year's Day and overspread the city and north suburbs by midnight. Snow continued through the night and much of the day Saturday January 2. The heaviest snow fell during the daytime hours Saturday and tapered off by late afternoon or early evening and ended by late evening. Northeast winds were 20 to 30 mph with a few higher gusts during the day Saturday. Winds gusted to over 50 mph along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The strong wind coming off the lake enhanced snowfall totals within about 10 miles of the lake. Snowfall was generally 9 to 15 inches over north central and east central Illinois and in the Chicago suburbs. Snowfall in Chicago and the north suburbs in Lake County was 18 to 22 inches. Winds subsided Saturday evening as the storm center passed over southern Lake Michigan. Then strong northwest winds developed Sunday causing considerable blowing and drifting and hampering clean-up efforts. The 21.6 inches at O'hare, the official observing site for Chicago, was the second greatest storm total snowfall. The record was 23.0 inches January 26-271967. Of the 21.6 inches, 18.6 fell on January 2, setting a record for the most snowfall on a calendar day. Other snowfall amounts included; Algonquin 14.0, Aurora 14.4, Barrington 18.0, Brookfield 15.1, Bourbonnais 14.0, Channahon 13.0, Chatsworth 17.0, Coal City 13.0, Compton 9.7, Crestwood 14.2, DeKalb 12.4, Dixon 16.4, Earlville 11.3, Fairbury 13.0, Geneva 13.0, Glenwood 16.0, Harvard 9.0, Lake Villa 17.9, LaGrange Park 15.0, Midway Airport 20.6, Mundelein 10.0, Naperville 11.0, Olympia Fields 15.8, Orland Park 13.8, Rochelle 9.6, Rockford 9.0, Streamwood 14.0, Willow Springs 12.0.The heavy snow and blowing snow caused hazardous travel. Lake Shore Drive was closed down for the first time ever. State, county and local road crews worked around the clock. The City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation spent 12 million dollars on snow removal efforts. Three hundred flights were cancelled at O'Hare and Midway airports.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

18 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Boone

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.323, -88.823 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cook

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, De Kalb

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: De Kalb forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.894, -88.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Du Page

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Du Page forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.852, -88.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ford

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.597, -88.223 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grundy

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.285, -88.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Iroquois

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Iroquois forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.747, -87.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kane

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Kane forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.939, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kankakee

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Kankakee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.138, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kendall

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Kendall forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.591, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, La Salle

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: La Salle forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.344, -88.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lake

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lee

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.746, -89.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Livingston

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.892, -88.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, McHenry

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: McHenry forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.324, -88.452 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ogle

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Ogle forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.043, -89.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Will

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Will forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Heavy Snow, Winnebago

When: January 1, 7:00 PM CST to January 2, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.336, -89.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Heavy Snow, Cook	1999-01-01	58	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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

Every storm in Illinois in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, January 1999

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5680947, 5680948, 5680949, 5680950, 5680951, 5680952, 5680953, 5680954, 5680955, 5680956, 5680957, 5680958, 5680959, 5680960, 5680961, 5680962, 5680963, 5680964.