Warm-up coming after snow causes hellish commute, delay of Blackhawks game
January 20, 2012 5:20AM
A driver (bottom left) clears snow from his windshield as traffic moves slow on the Kennedy Expressway at Grand Ave. Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Chicago. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times
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- Traffic map: Current Chicago-area traffic conditions
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- Current weather conditions
- Emergency Closing Center: List of school closures and more
- City of Chicago: Plow tracker
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Updated: February 22, 2012 8:03AM
Mother Nature has finally remembered it’s winter in Chicago, but the city will likely get a snow break for a few days following Friday’s traffic-snarling storm that even delayed a game played on ice.
It’s expected to be chilly for much of the weekend, with only a slight chance of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Highs are expected to be near 25 Saturday, warming to 39 Sunday. And it’s likely to be a soggy, wet start to the week, forecasters say.
A fine, powdery snow blanketed much of the city Friday, resulting in 5.4 inches of snow at O’Hare and 6.2 inches at Midway by 9 p.m. Other totals included seven inches in Orland Hills and 6.8 inches in Downers Grove. With 9.1 inches, Joliet got hit the worst Friday.
The snow came at precisely the wrong time for evening commuters. Drivers faced commutes as long as four hours on the Edens Expressway and airlines cancelled 700 flights at O’Hare and 100 at Midway.
It caused further headaches for at least 159 motorists who sought help from Illinois Tollway workers with changing tires, charging car batteries or because they ran out of gas or got stranded.
A total of 15 bus routes were taken off Lake Shore Drive and rerouted onto nearby streets. But all bus routes were back on Lake Shore Drive by 8:15 p.m., a CTA spokesman said. The CTA made the decision to remove the buses from the Drive based on weather conditions Friday afternoon, including standing and blowing snow, reduced visibility and slick road conditions.
The city brought out all 278 plows to tackle the drifting snow and the Illinois Tollway said it had its full fleet of 183 plows on the roadways.
The Chicago Blackhawks’ match started about half an hour later, after the snow delayed the Florida Panthers’ team bus on its way from its downtown hotel to the United Center.
Chicago Public Schools moved all its Friday sporting events to Tuesday.
The Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago closed at 1 p.m. Friday, but the Glenview museum is scheduled to resume regular hours on Saturday. City Colleges of Chicago canceled late afternoon and evening classes Friday but classes will resume Saturday.
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