Suburbs see slight snow accumulation

Gusting winds and small snow accumulations Monday afternoon created some delays at airports and led to a smattering of crashes throughout the suburbs, including two in Gurnee that sent nine people to area hospitals.

A winter weather advisory issued for the entire area ended at 6 p.m. with small accumulations reported to the National Weather Service. Before 4 p.m., Schaumburg reported an inch of snow, Riverwoods reported .7 inches, and Naperville reported 1.3 inches.

"We expect the snow showers to continue the rest of the evening and into the overnight hours but pretty much coming to an end by morning," Meteorologist Bill Nelson said.

Weather caused about 115 flights at O'Hare International Airport to be canceled Monday afternoon and delays up to almost an hour, while passengers at Midway saw only minor delays.

On state roads, rush hour was basically business as usual Monday evening, Illinois State Police said.

"It's actually not had any effect (on rush hour)," said state trooper James Gawel.

Weather likely factored into the two crashes in Gurnee that caused one vehicle to roll over just after 4 p.m. on Route 132 on the bridge above I-94, Gurnee police Sgt. Jeremy Gaughan said. A 13-year-old boy was critically injured in that crash.

Winds, gusting at around 35 mph during rush hour, are expected to die down after midnight. he said, and temperatures will fall to between 21 and 27 degrees overnight throughout the area.

High winds could again be an issue Thursday for the annual McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Chicago, potentially posing a hazard for the giant balloons and larger floats, meteorologists with AccuWeather say.

Forecasters predict intermittent clouds and some sunshine for Thanksgiving and recommend those attending the parade, which steps off at 8 a.m., to bundle up. "Temperatures topping out about 15 degrees below normal for this time of the year, near 30," AccuWeather Meteorologist Ben Noll said. "An occasionally gusty breeze will make it feel even chillier."

Temperatures will likely start out in the upper 20s and then rise slightly above freezing as Thanksgiving continues.

This November has been one of the coldest on record in the Chicago area so far. According to the weather service, the average temperature for the first three weeks of November was 33.7 degrees, which ties 1995 for the second-coldest on record for that period.

The coldest first three weeks came in 1951, when the average temperature was 32.4 degrees.