Snow Continues After Commute-Snarling, Flight-Canceling Winter Dump

By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 14, 2017 3:12PM

Flickr / Elena Kovalevich

So much for winter in name only. Just a week away from the official start of spring, Chicago was socked with two days of snowfall, slapping a punctuated end to the bizarre, extended streak of no measurable snow that preceded the storm.

According to weather.com and the National Weather Service, we won't be quite in the clear until the late afternoon/early evening. Occasional snowfalls are likely for several hours until around 4 p.m. The lake effect warning remains in place until that time, also.

The city was hit with more than four inches of snow over the last 24 hours, according to weather.com. By the end of it all, as much as a foot of snow could accumulate in parts of the Chicago area, according to ABC7.

Late-Monday/overnight storm was particularly treacherous. Seven people were injured in a 35-vehicle chain-reaction crash on the Kennedy at around 10:30 p.m. on Monday.

The Tuesday morning commute, perhaps you noticed, was a hot (read: cold) mess. On Tuesday morning, the drive on the Kennedy "Expressway" from O'Hare International Airport to downtown was in excess of three hours at times.

If a drive from O'Hare implies normal flight operations, that wasn't exactly the case either, as more than 400 flights were delayed and flights averaged were averaging 20 minute delays.

Outlying suburbs and townships were not spared either. Mt. Prospect was hit with more than four inches of snow, according to Rich Henquinet's dog's front legs.