Storm cancels hundreds of flights at O'Hare, Midway

Icy rains forced the cancellation of more than 250 flights at O'Hare and Midway airports on Wednesday, just as travelers were hoping to beat the storm out of or into town.

And, the unpleasant weather is expected to continue, with a mess of snow, rain and sleet expected to blanket the area until the day after Christmas.

With rain being the most likely precipitation to be seen in abundance, flooding is expected to be the biggest weather problem ahead as the frozen ground can't absorb the water, according to the National Weather Service.

Nevertheless, many of those delayed at O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday afternoon were trying to put a brave face on their uncertain fate.

"You could get into a bad mood, but it doesn't change anything," said Guido Reiss, of Trier, Germany, while snacking on a chocolate bar and sipping a cup of coffee.

If Reiss could manage to stay patient with the state of affairs at O'Hare Wednesday, anyone should have.

Already delayed a day by a mechanical problem in Frankfort, Germany, he arrived in Chicago to find no options to use his standby ticket to Oklahoma to visit his son.

While hoping against hope for a 6 p.m. flight Wednesday, it seemed more likely that 8:30 a.m. Thursday would be his earliest possible chance to leave the blustery Midwest.

This was his second year in a row running into bad luck on his connecting flight in Chicago. Last year, his plane had to be replaced after being struck by the de-icing machine.

But some others at O'Hare had already given up all hope on connecting flights and were awaiting ground transportation to take them the rest of the way home.

Chris and Kali Hoffman and their son were on their way home from Orlando when they learned their connecting flight to the Quad Cities was canceled.

They were hanging around in the arrivals area waiting for a friend to drive all the way out from Erie, Ill. to take them home. They expected the situation to add at least six hours to their travel day and scratch their plans to start driving out to see relatives in South Dakota Thursday morning.

"As long as we're in a house tonight and not an airport, we'll be happy," Chris Hoffman said.

Darin Bowe of Chippewa Falls, Wis., had no guess how much longer his day was going to be.

Having arrived in the morning from South Carolina, he expected to be home by 1 p.m. But at 3 p.m. he was still waiting for a bus to Wasau, Wis., that was only tentatively scheduled to depart at 4 p.m. And whenever it got to Wasau, Chippewa Falls would still be another 45 minutes away, he mused.

As the snow outside got thicker, Mike Oester of Schaumburg crossed his fingers that the arrival of his son's flight from California would get no worse than the one-hour delay predicted.

Having a habit of getting to the airport an hour early, though, he knew he was in store for at least a two-hour wait for his son.

And yet, officials said the amount of mixed precipitation that will hit the ground will not be as significant as originally feared when a morning weather alert was issued.

Chicago Department of Aviation officials said more than 200 flights were canceled at O'Hare Wednesday, but that improving weather conditions were lowering the average delays of uncanceled flights to about 45 minutes or more. At Midway International Airport, more than 60 flights had been canceled but delays still averaged 60 minutes in the evening hours.

Southwest Airlines canceled all departures from Midway until at least 4 p.m. Wednesday because of icing.

People are being asked to check flight information before heading to the airports and to arrive at least two hours before flight time.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for the north and northwest suburbs through Thursday morning. After that, heavy rain is expected all day Christmas Eve, that could accumulate to a half-inch or an inch. The weather service issued a flood watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday night for large portions of Illinois and Indiana.

More rain is expected Christmas morning, which should change over to snow Friday night.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <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> </div> </div> </div>