Joliet Achieves 12.2 Inches Of Snow

JOLIET, IL - The Joliet Weather Center announced on Friday evening that the city of Joliet ended up with 12.2 inches of snowfall as of 5 p.m. Director and lead forecaster Jeremy Hylka posted on Facebook that two more rounds of snow were expected over the weekend. Both snow totals won't be huge, though. "Round one comes overnight tonight into Saturday morning and round two comes overnight Saturday into Sunday morning," Hylka predicted. Each snow will only bring between a half-inch and up to 2 inches, he said.

"Please drive safe and be careful, especially tonight," he said on Friday evening.

As of lunch time Friday, the city of Joliet's snowplow drivers, all 39 employees, remained out and about ridding Joliet's main roads, bridges, hills and hospital routes of lots of snow. Mike Eulitz of Joliet's Public Works Division told Patch that he measured 7 inches of snowfall around lunch time. "We are going to be close to 9 or 10 inches, just like they predicted," Eulitz remarked.

At this stage, Joliet's snowplow drivers remain focused on the city's main roads, including the bridges and the roads that lead to Joliet's hospital, Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center. The main roads for the city's crews include busy roads such as Jefferson Street, Larkin Avenue and Black Road, among others. "We have a couple of hundred miles of roads," Eulitz said. "We are going to try to get into the subdivisions, but that's hit or miss." He said it usually Joliet's snowplow drivers two-to-two-and-a-half hours to finish a route.

As long as the snow continues to fall Friday afternoon, Joliet's plows will remain focused on the main roads, Eulitz said. If the snow stops around 6 p.m., the city of Joliet's snow plows will probably start "bombing the main streets with salt and then get into the neighborhoods," he said.

In all likelihood, Joliet will remain busy clearing streets and the neighborhoods well into Saturday morning and perhaps Saturday afternoon, Eulitz remarked.

Main image via city of Joliet, secondary image via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak