Ready for a ‘worst in Chicago’ winter?

Remember when a blizzard meant an inconvenient commute and maybe a snow day for the kids?

And a wind storm brought a little excitement and scattered damage, but the power was back on by bedtime?

That’s all so 2010.

Now, in 2011, we know:

Ÿ People can die stranded in their cars in the suburbs in a blizzard. Searchers found a Grayslake man and a Mundelein woman in their cars as Feb. 2’s historic 20-inch snowstorm began to wane. Both died of heart attacks, one complicated by diabetes, with the storm possibly contributing.

Ÿ People can be stuck for hours in their snow-buried cars before being rescued or hiking out. It happened to hundreds on Feb. 1 and 2, including Jennifer Boznos of Hampshire, stranded 19 hours in her car on Route 47 five miles from home, and Becky Schultz of McHenry, stuck seven hours near Mundelein before Round Lake firefighters rescued her by snowmobile. That one fire department used snowmobiles to rescue 70 people, many of them unprepared for the cold-weather exposure.

Ÿ A severe storm can leave huge swathes of suburbia without electricity for days, or even a week. That’s what happened on July 11, when a freak wind storm cut power to 868,000 homes and businesses, forcing ComEd to import crews from all over the central U.S. to restore electricity within six days.

Now comes word from Accuweather that the coming winter could be one of the “worst in Chicago,” with about as much snow as last winter’s 57 inches and brutal arctic cold in December and January.

Even during our beautiful Indian summer, winter preparedness suddenly starts to sound a little more urgent.

Could you survive 19 hours in your car?

Now’s your chance to get it in good condition and prepare to stock it with warm outerwear and blankets, as well as crucial medications and snacks.

Could you manage an extended winter power outage?

If Plan A is to leave home, remember that hotels in some suburbs booked up within hours of the July 11 windstorm and that a few feet of snow might make it impossible for you to get out. It never hurts to have a Plan B.

The federal government has a lot of good ideas for making emergency plans, stocking supplies and getting your home and car ready. You’ll find a detailed checklist of steps you can take now at www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/winter.html.

Take a look, get ready to meet Mother Nature head-on and hope that the forecast changes before the seasons do.

Then, with any luck, the winter of 2011-12 will leave us with nothing more than a few good stories to tell the grandkids.