So How Bad Was It?

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 2, 2011 3:05PM

Well, it could have been worse. As of 6 a.m., the official snow tally at O'Hare Airport was 17.3 inches. With the final rush of snow just now starting to fall, that places the Blizzard of 2011 as the fifth snowiest on record, with a good chance to surpass the snowfall total of the Blizzard of 1979 by the time this is over.

As for travel - yikes. The scene on Lake Shore Drive last night evoked memories of 1967 (according to my mother). All of the drive was closed at 7:50 p.m. due to drifting snow, whiteout conditions and icy roadways. Hundreds of motorists and bus riders were stranded for anywhere from four to nine hours waiting for IDOT crews to clear the lanes. 181 people stranded on Lake Shore Drive were transported to St. Joseph Hospital for observation (Benjy Lipsman was one of those bus riders stranded on Lake Shore Drive and we hope to have his first-person account of the scene later).

Past the evening rush, CTA seemed to do a commendable job on main streets and rail, given the circumstances. I was still able to easily catch a southbound Halsted bus after leaving the Beer Bistro last night. Currently, CTA trains seem to be on schedule; the buses are a different matter. But they are running.

Metra is a completely different matter. Five lines in the rail system are not in operation right now. Chicago Public Schools are closed today - the first snow day for the system in a dozen years. Meanwhile, ComEd said that 61,000 customers are without power right now. It's a number that, given the high winds and how fast the weight of the snow, is a pretty low number. Cook County Circuit Courts are also closed today.

[UPDATE 9:05 a.m.]: The official snowfall total in O'Hare has now been increased to 19.5 inches, eclipsing the snowfall total of the Blizzard of '79 and the March 1930 snowfall to third place overall.