Winter Weather Advisory extended for Chicago area, Illinois as snow and cold persist
The Winter Weather Advisory for the Chicago area will remain in effect for the rest of the day.
Winter weather slammed the Chicago area early Monday morning, prompting blizzard warnings in effect for some outlying areas and making for dangerous travel as the morning commute began.
Snow was coming down sideways over downtown Chicago as of 6:30 a.m. In areas west of Chicago, whiteout conditions were reported. Blowing snow and terrible travel conditions were a concern for the entire Chicago area throughout the morning rush.
A Winter Weather Advisory has been expanded and extended until midnight Monday night for Cook, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Ford, Kendall, LaSalle, Boone, DeKalb, Lee, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois, and for Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties in Indiana.
Heavy snow northwest of Chicago created near-whiteout conditions at times Monday morning.
Additional accumulations of 4 to 9 inches are possible in the hardest-hit areas before snow begins tapering after sunrise.
Closer to Chicago, snow is expected to redevelop early this morning with 1 to 4 inches possible, though strong winds will still reduce visibility and make travel hazardous.
The Department of Streets and Sanitation said crews will be out through Monday morning, monitoring arterial streets, DuSable Lake Shore Drive, bridges, and overpasses to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles, public transportation, and other travelers.
Snow should end by 10 a.m., but gusty northwest winds will continue through the day, making temperatures in the 20s feel like the single digits.
The core of the cold settles in tonight with wind chill values as low as -10 degrees by Tuesday morning. Temperatures moderate for the rest of the week.
What to expect during Monday's winter weather
Monday Morning
The worst travel conditions are expected during the morning commute, especially northwest of Chicago.
At the start of the morning rush before dawn, conditions on Chicago roadways were already extremely poor — especially in outlying areas. Little to no visibility was also reported in some areas. Such conditions persisted for some time.
On top of the snow, some streets and roadways were flooded from the rain that fell during storms Sunday night, and a glaze of ice was a concern in some areas. Side streets were covered in puddles of water in particular.
Kris Habermehl's choice of words for conditions on the roads before dawn Monday referenced some treats that might not seem so sweet.
"We've had a lot going on since flash freeze with all that water that was ponding on the pavement that turned to ice, then we've got the powdered-sugar coating of snow over the top, and that's kind of gone to full-on vanilla frosting," Habermehl said. "It looks awful out there. You can't see what you're doing."
The visibility was worst to the north and west, where drivers were stuck in blizzard conditions. But even in areas with better visibility, there were lots of problems.
Multiple spinouts were reported on the Steel Bridge on the Bishop Ford Freeway in Calumet City. There was also a multi-vehicle crash on westbound I-80/94 at Torrence Avenue, and another on northbound I-394 at Route 30, with a vehicle having rolled over. A driver also hit a wall on northbound I-57 at Halsted Street, and a crash blocked the left lane on the eastbound Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) at Route 59.
A crash without serious injuries was reported on northbound I-55 past County Line Road in the southwest suburbs. The crash involved a car hitting a utility pole.
Cars were also seen spinning off the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) amid whiteout conditions heading to DeKalb early Monday morning.
By 9 a.m., conditions were improving as the snow subsided.
Monday Afternoon
Steadier snow should taper off, but scattered snow showers or brief squalls may still develop, which could lead to localized bursts of reduced visibility and slick travel.
Even though snowfall totals may not be extreme everywhere, the combination of accumulating snow and very strong winds will likely create the biggest impacts, especially overnight and during the Monday morning commute.
Monday Night
As skies begin to clear and winds settle into the 10–15 mph range, temperatures will fall into the low single digits in some northern locations and into the teens elsewhere. Wind chills by early Tuesday morning could drop to around 10 below zero in spots.
Snow disrupts flights at Chicago airports
The snow impacted the schedules at O'Hare and Midway international airports on Monday morning.
As of 10:20 a.m., a total of 497 cancellations were reported at O'Hare. A total of 42 cancellations were reported at Midway.
But the weather was not the only factor causing problems at the airports on Monday morning.
Anyone trying to fly into Chicago was likely to be snagged by long security lines due to Transportation Security Administration agent shortages. A total of 300 agents have quit, and call-outs have more than doubled from what they were before the partial government shutdown affecting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began.
TSA lines have not been an issue for Chicago airports so far. But that shoe is about to drop, too, according to the president of the union that represents Illinois and Wisconsin TSA workers.
