Weather Forecast: Ice Storm In Chicago Area
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An ice storm is moving through the Chicago area Tuesday evening, bringing with it everything from light snow to sleet to freezing rain and thunder storms. The storm is expected to bring about a quarter inch to four-tenths of an inch of ice.
The ice storm warning went into affect Cook County and surrounding Illinois counties at 6 p.m. Tuesday and stays in effect until 6 a.m. Wednesday. It is the first ice storm warning issued for Chicago since 2009. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for Kankakee County and Northwest Indiana.
At 10 p.m. Kankakee County was experience heavy rain and thunderstorms had moved into Northwest Indiana. Areas to the north and west were experiencing an icy mix, with freezing rain around Evanston and more sleet around Waukegan and through McHenry.
DeKalb, Kane, DuPage and Cook counties are most likely to experience icing from one-tenth of an inch to four-tenths of an inch. Areas to the north and west will experience a sleet and ice mixture.
The ice storm should move out of the area around 5 a.m., in time for the morning rush.
O'Hare was officially reporting freezing rain at 10 p.m., as were several suburbs. But further south, Midway was reporting only rain.
CBS 2 Meteorologist Megan Glaros says the key concerns are: Ice on roads and sidewalks, and iced over cars, bridges and overpasses. Cars could be iced shut and ice could also accumulate on power lines, making power outages possible.
Ice was already creating unsafe road conditions in Hoffman Estates around 10 p.m., as CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports. And conditions were treacherous near Antioch, with cars sliding off roads and ice blanketing anything not moving.
A 10 to 16 mph wind could cause power lines and tree limbs to break once they are covered in ice.
The Weather Service discourages travel during the ice storms. The ice could cause tree branches and power lines to snap.
Some Chicago area hotels are offering discounts for overnight stays.
ComEd said in a statement released Tuesday that it was opening its emergency operations center, adding staff and preparing equipment to respond to power outages.
"ComEd has developed a plan and is prepared to have the necessary resources available to respond in the event that there are weather-related issues," said Terence R. Donnelly, president and chief operating officer of ComEd, in a statement. "Should there be any impact to our system, our employees will work around the clock to get customers restored quickly and safely."
The City Of Chicago will have 300 trucks on the streets spreading salt. To report wires down or a tree emergency, call 3-1-1. Residents can also use the CHI 311 mobile app or file a report online at www.311.chicago.gov.
Crews are salting el platforms and bus shelters.
The CTA is prepared to use its sleet scrapers and snow plow blades to remove ice from el tracks and for de-icing rails.
Metra is planning to salt, use switch heaters and run trains overnight to keep the ice from building up on the overhead wires on the electric line.
The Illinois Tollway will have nearly 196 trucks deployed to spread salt on the area tollways. Officials in Northwest Indiana say the state's plows will be out to treat roads.
Aurora crews were already out salting the roads in the afternoon, preparing for the storm as it heads east.
"We actually have the entire crew out now salting the entire city. A city this size – about 1200 lane miles – it takes us about three hours to salt the city so we don't want to be caught off guard," said Aurora Public Works Director Ken Schroth.
