Super-Slippery Sidewalks and Sleet on the Way

By Laura Oppenheimer in Miscellaneous on Dec 10, 2007 5:05PM

Unless you stayed inside all day yesterday (and that wouldn't have been a bad idea, because it was dis-gusting out there), you couldn't miss the super-slippery sidewalks all around the city. An ice storm Saturday night made traveling around the city extra-treacherous due to the thin coating of ice on sidewalks. Chicago city officials, being their normal helpful selves, urged people to salt their sidewalks and walk carefully when it's icy. And also to look both ways before crossing the street. [Ed note: And back the first way again!]

Chicagoist was slip-sliding all over the place as we walked around yesterday. Though we took a couple of almost-falls, we were lucky to stay upright for the most part. Others, not so much. "We have had some really catastrophic falls; older people falling and breaking their hips, and we have had people fall and fracture or dislocate their ankles, their shoulders, several of those things," Dr. Martin Lucenti of Northwestern Memorial Hospital told ABC7.

Lest you think the icy wintery fun is over, more crappy weather is on the way:

Snow and sleet are expected to arrive late Monday, when temperatures will drop near 24 degrees. ... Freezing rain is expected to intensify early Tuesday, and may mix with sleet or snow. The storm could cause ice accumulations of more than ¼-inch north of Interstate-80. Temperatures should reach 35 degrees with a northwest wind gusting at 10 mph, the National Weather Service said. The chance of precipitation decreases to 30-percent Tuesday night, when temperatures will drop near 23 degrees with winds out of the northwest up to 15 mph....

If you're in town right now, here's to hoping you don't need to get out of here any time soon. Some 400 flights were canceled yesterday due to the icy and snowy conditions.

Image of icy bikes via mjkmjk.