Snow piling up, 700+ flights canceled, Blackhawks game delayed

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Updated: January 20, 2012 7:12PM

Hundreds of flights have been canceled, Chicago’s full fleet of plows are on the streets and the Blackhawks game has been pushed back a half hour as the snow keeps falling.

Snow has been falling throughout the Chicago area since late Friday morning, the start of a storm that could drop 5 to 8 inches of snow on the metropolitan area over the next 12 hours. At the latest measurement, 4.5 inches had fallen at Midway Airport.

The Chicago Blackhawks game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. is being delayed until 8 p.m. because of the bad weather conditions, the team announced as more than 700 flights at the city’s two airports have been canceled.

Friday afternoon the CTA announced that buses are being rerouted off Lake Shore Drive. As of about 6:45 p.m., CTA said buses north of Roosevelt Road on the Drive were back to normal operations, but south of Roosevelt Road they were still be rerouted to nearby surface streets.

Airlines at O’Hare canceled more than 600 flights — both inbound and outbound — as of 3:30 p.m., because of the storm, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. For flights that haven’t been canceled, delays as of about 3:30 p.m. were averaging 45 minutes. At Midway, Southwest Airlines has canceled all flights between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. today. Southwest expects to resume operations at 7 p.m. this evening. Flights originally scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. will be delayed until after 7 p.m. but not canceled, according to the Department of Aviation. Overall, airlines at Midway have canceled more than 100 flights Friday.

More than 30 schools and day care centers, mostly in the north, northwest and western suburbs planned to close early or cancel after-school activities, according to a web listing. In anticipation of inclement weather, Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago closed at 1 p.m. on Friday. The Glenview museum is scheduled to resume regular hours on Saturday. City Colleges of Chicago canceled late afternoon and evening classes Friday and has closed all of its facilities as of 3 p.m., including the district office.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Chicago, DuPage, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties starting at 9 a.m. and lasting through midnight.

Those areas could see between 5 and 8 inches of snow, slightly more than the 6 inches of snow forecasters predicted Wednesday, according to the weather service.

Kendall and Will counties to the south as well as Lake and Porter counties in Indiana won’t see as much snow — only 3 to 6 inches of accumulation, according to the weather service. Those counties are under a winter weather advisory from 9 a.m. until midnight.

The heaviest snowfall will come during the mid-afternoon, just in time to make Friday’s afternoon commute “particularly treacherous,” the weather service warns.

“Very cold” afternoon temperatures reaching only the teens will also make road salt less effective, and may make clearing snow and ice from roadways more difficult.

The Illinois Tollway says it has its full fleet of 183 plows on the roadways. The Tollway’s Snow Operations Center opened early Friday morning and the Tollway will have its full complement of more than 200 staff and supervisors per shift to ensure roadways are kept clear.

“Our snowplows have been out salting and plowing our roadways since this morning, but there are areas along our system that have begun to collect snow,” Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said. “Our full fleet will continue to work throughout the evening, but we’re expecting a challenging Friday night rush hour as a result of this snowfall.  We’re asking our customers to drive carefully and give our snowplows plenty of room to do their work.”

Forecasters are warning motorists driving in areas likely to see higher snow accumulations to stay home if possible, and stock a flashlight, food and water in vehicles in case of an emergency.

“Snowfall may be intense at times and that can limit visibility, so motorists will need to drive with increased caution and patience,” Streets & Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne said. “Motorists should allow for longer travel times today, especially during the evening rush hour.”

Temperatures will remain steady in the teens to lower 20s overnight, but light snow showers after midnight could drop another 1 to 2 inches of snow before the storm tapers off early Saturday, according to the weather service.

Area residents do have warmer temperatures to look forward to next week, though, as highs were expected to climb into the mid-30s beginning Sunday.

— Sun-Times Media