COLLINSVILLE – The Illinois State Police is advising motorists again to stay home or in one place Saturday evening with roads starting to be impaired because of freezing water.
A serious crash occurred at I-255 and I-270 about 3:15 p.m. and has resulted in partial lane closure, Sgt. Booth of the Illinois State Police said.
“Roads are already getting bad and with the water refreezing and dropping temperatures,” Booth said. “Cars are already getting piled up. We encourage people to stay off the roads tonight with the weather forecast.”
In a message sent out earlier in the day, Illinois State Police District 11 said it had handled 519 incidents by that point in time.
The ISP thanked its own troopers for their efforts. Several troopers came to work early and stayed late. The telecommunications personnel also did an exceptional job with taking and making hundreds of calls overnight, the ISP said in a written statement.
The National Weather Service predicted temps to fall to around 25 degrees by 5 p.m. There is predicted to be a Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.
Tonight the prediction by the Weather Service is:
“Snow and freezing drizzle likely before 1 a.m. Sunday, then a chance of snow between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Patchy fog between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Sunday. Otherwise, the prediction is cloudy, with a low around 6 p.m.
“Winds are predicted to be Northwest 16 to 18 mph Sunday, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.”
Temperatures are predicted for Sunday to be sunny and cold, with a high near 11. Wind chill values as low as -10. Northwest wind 8 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Sunday night it is predicted to be clear, with a low around 0. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm after midnight.
