Blizzard Snow Removal Cost Chicago $37.3 Million

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Mar 5, 2011 5:30PM

The Great Blizzard of 2011 came and went, but it left Chicago pretty dry: the snow removal during and after the blizzard last month cost the city $37.3 million to clean up. The Chicago Tribune reports that this number is more than double what the mayor and the city had set aside for snow removal during the entire year.

Even though Chicago amassed a steep bill during that fateful blizzard weekend, $37.3 million apparently isn't the most we spent on snow removal:

Chicago's third-biggest snowstorm at 21.2 inches still cost less to clean up than the last heavy one in 1999, when 21.6 inches fell. That one was more than double this one, at a cost of $76 million. Back then, the snow fell during New Year's, and the holiday overtime costs for the plow drivers were enormous. Also, the 1999 storm lasted longer than this year's version, and the snow then was icier and more difficult to remove, said Pete Scales, a spokesman for the city Office of Budget and Management.

Additionally, having not one but two airports to clean and maintain prominently factored into the blizzard bill. Snow removal at both Midway and O'Hare airports cost the city $14.5 million during the blizzard.

The $37.3 million tab will be a hard-to-miss parting gift from Mayor Daley to Rahm Emanuel. Let's hope Rahm can dig up some federal disaster aid to help pay this bill off.