Plows rush to keep roads clear today as snowfall eases
And you thought yesterday was bad.
The worst part of the snowfall is behind us, but plows are racing to catch up to clear roads before the rush hour begins in full force.
Officials from Illinois Department of Transportation are already warning that it will be slow going this morning due as crews work to remove between 6 and 10 inches of snow that hit the ground in the last 24 hours.
Those trucks will be further hampered by the additional 1 to 3 inches expected to fall before noon, said meteorologists from the National Weather Service.
To make it worse, gusts of 30 mph will blow snow onto all plowed roadways this morning, making driving conditions worse as the morning rolls on.
Those winds are expected to reduce as the day wears on, but temperatures will drop significantly this afternoon and into this evening.
Officials from the National Weather Service said lows are expected to reach 2 degrees to 6 degrees above zero overnight tonight, with wind chills dropping that temperature to 10 below.
There were more than 40 spinouts on the expressways over night, and another handful already this morning to start the rush hour, Illinois State Police officials said.
State police again enacted its emergency snow plan again, asking motorists to exchange information and file a police report later if an accident occurs that does not result in an injury or a tow situation.
More than 400 flights had been canceled at O'Hare and 100 flights scrubbed at Midway Airport Thursday. But officials from the Chicago Department of Aviation said 50 flights were canceled at O'Hare this morning with only minor delays due to deicing. Midway has not delays and only a few cancelations.
The airlines are still advising passengers to check with them for any changes to flights.
Metra is also warning some minor weather-related delays are expected and commuters should allow extra travel time.
The heaviest hit area overnight seemed to be in Lake County, where 10-inches was recorded in Wadsworth. Downers Grove had about 7-inches, meteorologists said, while about 7-inches fell in Arlington Heights.
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Snow-related closures</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=349077">Lake County</a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=349135">DuPage County</a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=349196">Kane County</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=349077">Suburbanites slide, shovel their way through the day <span class="date">[01/08/2010]</span></a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Related links</h2>
<ul class="moreWeb">
<li><a href="http://www.emergencyclosingcenter.com/ecc/home.jsp" class="mediaItem">Full list of school closings</a></li>
<li><a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=ILZ014" class="mediaItem">Latest Forecast</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service outlook</a></li>
<li><a href="http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=lot&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service radar</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsohare" class="mediaItem">O'Hare flight information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsmidway" class="mediaItem">Midway flight information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/service_updates/service_updates_alerts.html" class="mediaItem">Metra service advisories</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wrc.gettingaroundillinois.com/winterroadconditions" class="mediaItem">Road conditions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gcmtravel.com/gcm/maps_chicago.jsp" class="mediaItem">Traffic conditions</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Photo Galleries</h2>
<ul class="gallery">
<li><a href="/story/?id=349123">Images from Thursday's snowstorm</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="float:right;margin:6px 6px 6px 6px;">
<img src="/graphics/snowrecords.jpg" width="290" height="309" border="0"></a></p>
</div>