Dibs Already? Some Chicagoans Jumping The Gun On Weekend Snowstorm
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some Chicagoans just can't wait for the snow, apparently. Or, at least, they're not waiting for the snow to arrive to begin calling dibs on parking spots.
At least two Reddit users have posted photos of folding chairs placed on the street to reserve parking spots, two days before any snow was expected to fall in Chicago. There hasn't been so much as a flake in the city since April.
While that will come to an end Friday night, calling dibs on parking before any snow has fallen seems especially brazen, even for Chicago, where – although illegal – dibs is a long-accepted practice in many neighborhoods, at least until the city has finished clearing streets of snow, and threatens to throw away all those folding chairs, milk crates, or other junk used to reserve street parking.
Based on most of the comments on the two photos, those chairs might not be in the street by the time the snow arrives Friday night; they might be tossed in a dumpster, or stacked in a neighbor's garage.
Chicago won't even get the worst of it when the snow hits. According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest accumulations will be in the far northern suburbs, with the city likely seeing only an inch or two – hardly enough for most dibs supporters to even bother trying to reserve a spot after they've cleared out a parking space.
A winter storm watch has been issued for Lake, Kane, DeKalb, McHenry, and Winnebago counties – and a dozen other counties in northern Illinois – from Friday evening through Saturday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, areas generally north of I-88 could get between 4 and 7 inches of snow. Areas south of I-88 could get 1-4 inches.
Chicago itself, meantime, has a lower potential for accumulating snow, due to a lake breeze that will bring slightly warmer temperatures to the city.