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Chicago area shovels out after biggest storm since 2011 blizzard
PILING UP
Batavia: 9.1 inches
Elk Grove Village: 7.5 inches
Joliet: 8.7 inches
Midway Airport: 9.4 inches
Streamwood: 9 inches
West Chicago: 6.8 inches
Woodstock: 7.5 inches
Yorkville: 7.9 inches
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Updated: March 6, 2013 7:24AM
The Chicago area is digging out from under the biggest snowstorm since the blizzard of February 2011 — with 9.2 inches at O’Hare.
That O’Hare total set a record for March 5. The previous record was 3.8 inches, set in 1999 and tied in 2002.
Another inch of snow was possible before the storm tapers off into light flurries after midnight, the National Weather Service said. Some areas closer to Lake Michigan could see snow showers continue into early Wednesday morning.
In Chicago, main streets should be clear for the Wednesday morning rush, according to the Department of Streets and Sanitation, but suburban drivers may encounter sloppy roads on their trek to work.
The flakes started to fall Tuesday morning across an area stretching from DeKalb and McHenry counties across the city and into Indiana.
By the time it was over, O’Hare recorded 9.2 inches of snow — “the largest single-day total since the Blizzard of 2011,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Jamie Enderlen.
As of late Tuesday, the hardest-hit areas in northern Illinois — with 11 inches of snow — were west suburban La Grange Park and Chicago Rockford International Airport.
Northwest suburban Elgin had 7 inches of snow. West suburban Batavia saw 9.1 inches and Naperville had 8.5 inches. South suburban Homewood and Chicago Ridge each had about 9 inches on the ground. Southwest suburban Joliet saw 8.7 inches of snow. North suburban Lake Bluff had 6.1 inches.
The city of Chicago, IDOT and the Illinois Tollway called out the troops — with hundreds of plows — but still struggled to keep up with the snowfall, which reached an inch an hour in many areas.
Tuesday’s snowstorm forced the cancellation of more than 1,180 flights at O’Hare and Midway, slammed the brakes on the Tuesday evening rush and prompted many schools and workplaces to close their doors early.
Airlines canceled more than 1,180 flights at O’Hare and Midway airports Tuesday, according to the city’s Department of Aviation.
Southwest Airlines canceled all flights out of Midway after 10 a.m., but was operating again by Tuesday evening with three-hour delays.
At O’Hare on Tuesday, a third to half the flights on the screens were blinking red — canceled. Security lines were short, made up of folks like Felice Porcelli, 22, who had checked their smartphones to make sure their flights were good to go.
“Mine’s on time,” said Porcelli, heading to Seattle.
But nine athletes from the University of Sioux Falls track team were bounced from a United flight to the national championships in Birmingham, Ala. But the airline got them spots on a Delta flight to Atlanta, and they planned to drive the rest of the way. “Hopefully we’ll get out of here and won’t have to spend the night,” assistant coach Reid Johnson said.
Passengers traveling Wednesday were advised to check their airline’s website to confirm flight status.
And at McCormick Place, it was a ghost town for the last day of the Housewares show. Ordinarily, “The place would be packed,” said Bruce Burrows of coffeemaker iCoffee. “There is no one left.”
Burrows said attendees panicked, worried that if they didn’t leave early Tuesday morning, they would have to stay in Chicago for another day or two to catch a flight home.
Contributing: Sandra Guy
