The 'Super Bowl Blizzard' Was One For The Record Books
By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 2, 2015 2:30PM
If you want to make a blanket fort and binge watch "The Wire" on HBO GO or Amazon Prime today, we completely understand as that's what we did Sunday while the snow fell in heavy waves.
Sunday was one for the record books—19.3 inches of snow fell at O'Hare, good enough for the fifth-largest snowstorm in the city's history and falling exactly four years after the Blizzard of 2011 brought thundersnow to the area and resulted in hundreds of cars stranded on Lake Shore Drive. Thankfully it didn't reach that level Sunday but it's a cold comfort for people across the city struggling to stay ahead of the falling snow.
It proved to be a Sisyphean endeavor once the wind gusts arrived in the afternoon, blowing wind across freshly shoveled sidewalks and parking spots and causing havoc with city and state crews tasked with keeping the main streets and expressways clear. This was the scene just outside Chicagoist's Bridgeport headquarters Sunday evening; the winds and heavy snow resulted in two of the four traffic lights at this intersection to topple. City crews struggled for hours to re-mount these lights and get them operational again.
Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist
As people across the city are digging out from Sunday's weather, here are some things to know:
- Classes at Chicago Public Schools have been canceled.
- There are longer than usual wait times for CTA trains, so plan accordingly as you start your workday.
- Metra is a mess.
- The dibs threat level should always be green, but we understand today if you want to save the fruits of your labor. You may want to wait until the snow plows hit the side streets to dig out your space and chance it with public transit, however.
- The city's warming centers will be open.
Now that the snowstorm is over, the freeze begins. It's in single digits now as the forecast calls for highs near 20 degrees today. It will warm up briefly Tuesday and Wednesday before the freeze returns Thursday. Since we work from home, we'll be here all day but the office manager has the day off. It was enough exercise for Mira to bound through the drifts this morning and she's thankful.
Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist
Thanks for taking the time to visit Chicagoist throughout the day. Let's watch "The Wire" together.