Let's Act Like We've Seen Snow Before, Chicago!

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 31, 2014 6:00PM

Maybe Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams and his department did learn from wasting all that road salt last winter. Nary a salt truck is out on the streets today even though Chicago had its first measurable snowfall on Halloween this morning. One-tenth of an inch of snow fell at O'Hare International Airport, which is enough to officially record, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Nelson.

Nelson may be breaking out his seasonal affective disorder lights as he told DNAInfo Chicago he gets depressed when snowfall is recorded. Dude, it isn't even sticking outside Chicagoist's Bridgeport headquarters, although some suburbs woke up to some "WTF?" moments. Chicago Weather Center's Mike Hamernik tweeted this photo of the football field at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

As we mentioned this morning, the wind is what we need to be mindful of moving forward. All the local meteorologists predicted 50 mph gusts today. Tom Skilling reports there were 56 mph wind gusts off the lake this morning. Needless to say, if you insist on getting a run or a bike ride in with this weather this afternoon, avoid the lakefront. Skilling nicknamed this a "Halloween Howler" that has the lakeshore under a flood advisory. Take a look at the image below; all that red and orange can't be good.

If this means fewer trick or treaters this afternoon, it's a win—that's more York Peppermint Patties for us. The winds have forced cancellations at O'Hare; Midway is moving along fine.