Storm drops 3-4 inches of wet, slushy snow across area

A winter weather advisory that was expected to be in effect until noon is about to be canceled by the National Weather Service.

The system, which blew through Sunday and into this morning, dumped between 3 and 4 inches across the Chicago area, meteorologists said.

Andy Boxell, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said 3.2 inches hit the ground overnight at O'Hare International Airport. He said DuPage, Kane and western Cook counties had slightly more than that amount, and that Lake and eastern Cook counties had slightly less.

However, he said, this latest snowfall was a wet and slushy snow and rain mix that is heavier than normal snow.

"The accumulation amounts were not as high as we expected," Boxell said. "But, it's a wet, heavy snow that causes problems."

Due to the weather, Metra has a couple of delays on their train lines. Train 330, scheduled to depart Kenosha at 7:51 a.m. and arrive Chicago at 9:15 a.m. on the Union Pacific North Line, is delayed departing Kenosha. Also, train 15 on the Union Pacific West Line, scheduled to arrive Elburn at 7:50 a.m., is operating 15 minutes behind schedule.

O'Hare and Midway are experiencing no flight delays or cancellations, the Chicago Department of Aviation said this morning. However, people should check their airline Web sites in case of a delay.

ComEd officials said 3,600 people experienced power loss during the height of the winter storm Sunday night, with about 3,400 in Chicago.

ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick added about 800 customers lost power during the peak times in Lake County and northwest suburban Cook County.

Among those losing power was the Daily Herald Printing Center in Schaumburg, where an electrical problem caused by an outage due to the winter storm created a delay in printing the paper Sunday night.

That outage will result in a delivery delay Monday morning. Officials said deliveries will be made throughout the morning and into the afternoon.