Winter Storm Blankets Chicago With Nearly 8 Inches Of Snow
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago got nearly eight inches of snow over the weekend, forcing airlines to cancel more than 1,300 flights, and now the city must brace for much colder weather later in the week.
The Chicago area was blanketed with light, powdery snow over the weekend, as a winter storm kept the flakes falling for most of both Saturday and Sunday.
According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest snow fell in Bull Valley in McHenry County this weekend, with a total of 10.8 inches as of Monday morning. Chicago saw an official total of 7.8 inches by Monday morning at O'Hare International Airport.
In general, areas north of downtown Chicago got more snow than those to the south, with totals of 8.5 inches in Rockford, 7.8 inches in Lake Villa, 7.7 inches in Elk Grove Village, 7 inches in Marengo, 6.9 inches in Downers Grove, 5.8 inches in Peotone, 4.2 inches in Joliet, and 3.7 inches in Kankakee.
The steadily falling snow prompted airlines to cancel more than 1,200 flights at O'Hare International Airport, and more than 175 at Midway International Airport over the weekend.
The storm also kept crews busy all weekend plowing and salting roads.
The Illinois Department of Transportation had a full fleet of about 300 plows clearing Chicago area expressways, the Illinois Tollway had nearly 200 plows on toll roads, and the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation deployed more than 280 plows to clear city streets and Lake Shore Drive.
Local expressways and tollways were clear for the morning rush, and the city's plows began clearing side streets early Monday, after making sure the city's main streets were safe and passable.
No more snow was expected in Chicago until the end of the week, but bitterly cold temperatures were on their way. Temperatures likely won't get any warmer than the 24 degrees seen in Chicago before dawn on Monday.
By Tuesday night, temperatures likely will be in single digits. Thursday's high was expected to be about 5 degrees, and lows both Wednesday night and Thursday night were expected to be below zero. Friday and Saturday should bring a slight improvement in temperatures, with highs in the low to mid 20s again, but Sunday will see single digit highs again.