Marion County was on the south end of a major snowstorm that crossed the northern two-thirds of Illinois on Saturday. The Salem Water Plant recorded 2.5 inches of snow, while Chicago received eight inches, and Mt. Vernon received less than a half inch.
The snow caused several crashes and vehicles to run off the road in Marion County.
The sheriff’s department reports US 50 was closed to traffic for two hours in the Skillet Fork Bottoms after a car and a semi ran off the road, avoiding each other. A second semi then jack-knifed across both lanes of the highway, completely closing it to traffic until the jack-knifed truck could be removed. The crash was reported around 9:30, with the road reopening at 11:30 am. The Iuka Fire Department was called out to assist.
An 18-year-old rural Centralia man declined hospital treatment after he hit a slick spot on Odin Road south of Community Beach Road and his car flipped over on the driver’s side in the roadside ditch. Tyrese Lawson of State Route 161 in Centralia was out of the vehicle upon the arrival of emergency help. Odin Firemen assisted on the scene. The crash was reported at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday.
The Kell Fire Department was called out to I-57 between the 105 and 109 mile markers when several vehicles slid off the road Saturday morning. No injuries were reported.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department also reports vehicles slid off US 51 near Sandoval and Route 37 near Bason Road north of Salem during the height of the storm Saturday morning.
By late Saturday afternoon, temperatures warmed, and most of the snow melted by Saturday night.
