Snow Central: Everything You Need to Know to Prepare for H-F's Snow

LOCAL RESOURCES

Warming Center

Both and along with the will serve as warming centers during their regular business hours.

Winter Parking

Whenever snowfall is over two inches (it is), Homewood requires residents get their cars off the street so the snowplows can do their jobs. Flossmoor prohibits parking in snow routes which are marked on the following streets:

• Flossmoor Road
• Leavitt Avenue
• Sterling Avenue
• Central Drive

Questions or comments on this? Call the village at 708-798-3000 (Homewood) or 708-798-2300 (Flossmoor)  during regular business hours on Monday.

Road Closures and Conditions

Patch has teamed with Mapquest to offer live, local traffic maps, updated every five minutes with crashes, closures and danger spots. Follow that link or click on "Traffic & Gas" at the top of this page.

Metra Updates

You can check out updates from Metra's Electric line on Twitter.

Even if you don't use Twitter yourself, you can still see the updates by clicking that link.

Weather Conditions

Here's the National Weather Service conditions and forecast for H-F.

School Cancellations

Most districts offer e-mail or phone blasts if they're cancelling school, but you can also check EmergencyClosingCenter.com or your kids' schools' websites.

Here are the local school district websites, plus a few for local private schools.

• Homewood School District 153
• Flossmoor School District 161
• H-F High School District 233
• St. Joseph School
• Infant Jesus of Prague School

Snow Removal

The Patch Places directory has a list of H-F businesses advertising snow removal.

Let me know at ryan.fitzpatrick@patch.com if there's a place we missed.

Pizza (and other food) Delivery

The Patch Places directory lists all the restaurants in H-F that deliver. Call first.

Let me know at ryan.fitzpatrick@patch.com if there's a delivery place that we missed.

Elderly Relatives/Neighbors

The village and police department urge H-F residents to check in on relatives and neighbors, especially elderly ones and ones in poor health. If you have a concern, call the Homewood or Flossmoor Police non-emergency line at 708-479-3911 (Homewood) or 708-957-4500 (Flossmoor).

Additionally, to assist during the snowy winter, would like to offer assistance to shovel sidewalks for senior Homewood residents.

If you are interested in this generous opportunity, please call Shannon Olison of The South Suburban Vineyard Church at 708-960-4483. This is a volunteer program from Vineyard Church and they are eager to help as many seniors as they can handle.

Numbers to Call

• Any emergency: 911
• Police non-emergency: 708-479-3911 (Homewood) or 708-957-4500 (Flossmoor).
• Fire and ambulance non-emergency: 708-479-2121 (Homewood) or 708-798-3885 (Flossmoor).

Updates from Patch

For updates on all breaking, snowy news you can sign up for e-mail alerts by clicking "Patch Newsletter" at the top of this page and entering your e-mail address when prompted.

You can also "like" us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Shoveling Tips

Read this Popular Mechanics article covering shoveling safety from posture to heart health to hydration.

Driving Tips

Read AAA's tactics for getting where you want to go as safely as possible.

Snow Removal Tips Other than Shoveling

Here's The Weather Channel's guide for other snow options like snowblowers and chemicals.

Home Heating Tips

The U.S. EPA has both general tips for heating your home and environmentally conscious tips for heating your home.

Not-Setting-Your-House-On-Fire Tips

Download this pdf of winter fire safety tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's United States Fire Administration. You'll be asked if you want to open the file. You do.

Snowman Tips

The nerd in me is very proud that we get to go to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for snowman tips. I'm not kidding.

Also, 

The Perfect Snowball

Weighing in on everything from gloves vs. mittens to where in your yard to find the best snow (snow near the house is warmer), this article from howtodothings.com can give you the edge in your snow wars.

Cocoa A Go-Go

Enjoy the top 20 hot cocoa recipes submitted and rated by Allrecipes.com readers.

We will be updating this article throughout the weekend, so let us know in the comments section below what additional info you might want and about any updates or corrections to the info we have.

Some information contributed by Mokena Patch Editor Paul Dailing.