Snow Blog: Check Here for the Latest News on the Storm

5:55 p.m. As of 5:20 p.m., all District 308 students had been picked up, Angie Smith, Oswego Schools' director of business services said.

4:55 p.m. This is from Mike Pubentz, Montgomery's public works director:

"We currently have six plows out, which is over half of our available staff. They will focus on primary routes between now and 8 or 9 pm when the main portion of the storm is scheduled to end. Flurries are expected between then and 2 am, per our forecasting service. We will switch crews at 11 pm, and will have four drivers plowing overnight and into tomorrow morning. They will concentrate on primary routes, but will peel off and work on the secondary and minor routes as the snow diminishes. The first crew (that left at 11 pm) will be back on tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 7 am and will continue the clean- up operations begun by the overnight crew. Barring more snow, we should have clean-up operations complete between noon and 6 pm. 

The snow parking ban is in effect now until 6 pm tomorrow."

4:10 p.m. All of the Fox Valley Park District's community centers will close at 7 p.m. tonight. This includes the Vaughan Athletic Center, Eola Community Center and Prisco Community Center. The centers will open up for regular hours tomorrow.

3:35 p.m. Both branches of the Oswego Public Library District will close today at 5 p.m. Normal closing for a Friday is 9 p.m.

3:30 p.m. Readers on Facebook are reporting that the roads are in rough shape. I'm hearing about an accident at Rt. 34 and Rt. 30 as well - a fender bender, according to readers. Here are some more Facebook comments:

Heather Dawson Just got home ride from naperville took little over an hour. Roads suck did not see any plows out and 88 is a parking lot

Brandi Despot Miceli Husband cleared the driveway and less than 15 minutes later you would never know he did!!

Jenny Vincent Beguin I came from North Aurora to Boulder Hill and it took me almost 45 mins but the main streets in Boulder Hill are better than anywhere else...Not many plows out at all and I took all main roads.

Everyone be careful out there!

2:45 p.m. Angie Smith, the Oswego School District's director of business services, said junior high students on buses will be released from schools as their buses arrive this afternoon in an effort to keep elementary students as close to their usual drop-off times as possible. She said elementary school children will not be dropped off before their normal times. If parents who normally pick up their children are stuck in traffic and can't make the drop-off time, the bus will make another loop of its route. If parents still aren't there, students will be taken back to the  District Administration Center. (Not the school, as previously reported.)

1:45 p.m. The East Aurora School District has canceled all after-school activities for today.

As a reminder, village public works crews concentrate on the main thoroughfares first, and then head into the neighborhoods. I have a call in to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz to talk about how the snow removal is going today.

12:05 p.m. The Kaneland School District has canceled all after-school activities for today. The Hall of Fame ceremony scheduled to take place during the girls basketball game will be rescheduled for the Friday, Feb. 10 game at 7 p.m.

11:45 a.m. Kids Connection will be open as scheduled this afternoon. Other Park District programs that are held in District 308 schools will be canceled for this evening. No other park district activities have been canceled.

11:40 a.m. The West Aurora School District has canceled all after-school activities for today, including the boys basketball game, which has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 24.

11:10 a.m. The Oswego School District will dismiss both high schools one hour early today, so that buses can make the rounds with minimal delays. All other schools will be dismissed at the regular time. Also, all after-school activities in the Oswego School District have been canceled for today.

10:15 a.m. Seeing light snow here in Montgomery now. Montgomery Patch readers on Facebook are reporting snow in Oswego, Sandwich and Boulder Hill. According to the Chicago Tribune, 280 flights at O'Hare have been canceled in anticipation of the storm.

8:15 a.m. The National Weather Service has updated their storm warning—they're now expecting between five and eight inches to fall today, with the heaviest accumulations coming in the afternoon. No snow here in Montgomery yet, but if you have a late morning commute, check out our up-to-the-minute traffic guide here. We'll post this again for the afternoon commute, which is expected to be much worse.

6:00 a.m. Here we go again, Montgomery.

The National Weather Service is predicting up to six inches of snow today and tonight, with wind-chill temperatures dipping below zero. The snow is expected to begin around 9 a.m. and last until about midnight. But it’s also expected to get pretty heavy this afternoon, affecting visibility.

This means today’s commute is bound to be difficult. (The NWS weather advisory describes the afternoon commute as “particularly treacherous.”) If you have to leave the house, we want you to be safe, and we’re going to try to help out.

We’ll keep this blog up all day, and add to it when we hear anything about the storm. If you guys see or hear anything out there, let us know, either by leaving it in the comments of this article, or posting it on our Facebook page, or emailing it to andre.salles@patch.com.

The first thing we’ll likely post here is school cancellations. The West Aurora School District has already announced early dismissal, with busing remaining available. Here’s the schedule:

Todd Early Childhood Center will dismiss at 11 am; no lunches will be served and there will be no PM pre-school. 

West High School will dismiss at 11:21 am; no lunches will be served.  

Hope Wall School will dismiss at 11:30 am; no lunches will be served and there will be no PM pre-school. 

Elementary schools will dismiss at noon; lunches will be served. 

Middle schools will dismiss at 12:40 pm; lunches will be served.

Check back here for more soon.