‘The worst is behind us’: Snow tampers off in McHenry County Tuesday

Snow remains in McHenry County’s forecast through much of Tuesday, primarily through 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service, which had the area under a winter storm warning through noon.

“The worst is behind us,” the National Weather Service tweeted about 1 p.m. Tuesday. “Snow will become confined to the lakeshore this afternoon with an inch or two of additional accumulation.”

McHenry County was forecasted to see 1 to 3 more inches over the course of Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. With north winds about 15 mph and gusts as high as 30 mph, blowing snow also was a possible issue.

Some overnight snow also was forecasted – a slight chance before midnight and then again after 3 a.m. – but a revised forecast later Tuesday nixed that prediction. The rest of the week is almost expected to be clear with the possibility of snow not returning until Saturday.

The new accumulations would build on the 2 to 3 inches McHenry County has already seen: The National Weather Service received reports of 4 inches of snow in McHenry, 3.5 inches in Richmond, 3.3 inches in Marengo and Cary, 3 inches in Hebron and 2.5 inches in Harvard, according to the snowfall reports received in the 24 hours leading up to 3:30 p.m.

With the winter storm looming, many school districts that had recently returned in some form of in-person learning went all remote for Tuesday.

They include: Alden-Hebron School District 19, Algonquin-based Community School District 300, Cary School District 26, Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47, Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155, Fox River Grove Elementary School District 3, Harrison School District 36, Johnsburg School District 12, McHenry High School District 156, Nippersink School District 2, Prairie Grove School District 46 and Richmond-Burton High School District 157.

Huntley School District 158 chose to have a traditional snow day without any school, remote or in-person.

“This has been such a difficult situation no matter which angle you’re coming from,” Superintendent Scott Rowe told the Northwest Herald. “With a sizable snowstorm and the opportunity to let kids be kids, we thought it was maybe in their best interest to be kids and have an emotional break and go outside and play.”

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David Petrovich of Huntley uses a snowblower to clear his property on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 in Huntley. (Matthew Apgar/Matthew Apgar)