Storm puts out less than expected

Alex T. Paschal/.Elias Edmonson, 10, shovels the driveway Friday morning of his family's home in Sterling. Snow and freezing conditions cancelled school and made driving treacherous.

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You know how much you hate scraping off your car on a bone-chillingly cold winter morning?

Multiply that times 100.

By 8 a.m. Friday, Jerry Warren detailer Justin DeMay was chipping away at the dealership's carsicles, after a weirdly wet storm Thursday night dumped 3 inches of snow on the ground, then glazed everything in ice.

"The worst part is the ice," said DeMay, 20, of Prophetstown. "It freezes the latches shut and you can't get the door open."

Just the threat of an ice storm had generators moving off the shelves Thursday at Ace Hardware in Dixon, manager Rich Kelly said.

Although not as much snow fell as expected, there still was enough to make life a hassle Friday.

School was canceled throughout the Sauk Valley, power was out in a few spots and many folks had to scurry back to stores to buy scrapers and shovels to replace those that broke on duty.

Because the area saw more snow and wind than ice, ComEd had fewer outages than expected, said Jim Fox, external affairs manager for ComEd. "We're very fortunate we didn't get the ice that the south got," Fox said.

About 160 customers in Ashton, Compton and Amboy lost power, from 20 minutes to 3 and a half hours.

Rock Falls, which owns its own electric utility, had no reported outages, Electric Director Paul Jakubczak said.

Many people spent the morning clearing off sidewalks and driveways.

Lincoln School Principal Andy Edmondson and his son, Elias, started clearing off their driveway about 9 a.m. An hour and half later, they were still chipping away.

The snow didn't seem to bother Elias - he said he's earned $10 shoveling his neighbors' snow, and used the money to buy a video game.

Others took advantage of the snow day to have some fun.

Dacia Hutchinson, 35, of Milledgeville, took six kids to Lawrence Park in Sterling for a day of sledding and snowboarding.

"My mom woke up early and ... told my sister not to wake us up" for school, said Cecelia Ottens, 11, one of Hutchinson's charges.

When Kyle Forbes looked out his window in Milledgeville and saw the world covered in white, he said: "Yes, there's snow!"

He and the rest of the kids spent a good chunk of time sliding down the hill and running back up.

"I wish I had their energy," Hutchinson said.