No blizzard, but harsh weather still threatening area

The blizzard warning may have been dropped, but officials from the National Weather Service said Tuesday morning the cold weather and blustery winds are still moving in.

And, as usual, with the cold weather comes black ice, which causes motorists to spin out on roads throughout the Chicago area.

About a dozen spin-outs have been reported across the Chicago area early Tuesday morning. They range from a seven car pile up on I-80 near the Houbolt Road overpass near Joliet due to slick conditions, to a minor spin out on Fairfield and Nippersink roads in northern Ingleside.

Accidents have also been reported in Hanover Park, Bartlett, Buffalo Grove and Inverness. Most of those spin-outs or crashes apear minor in nature, officials said.

Officials are warning people to slow down when heading out for the morning rush hour, as the wind and blowing snow can create hazardous driving conditions.

The winds expected to fall on the Chicago area did not come with as much force as originally thought, weather officials said Tuesday.

Originally, the snow was expected to end at about midnight Monday, then winds reaching gusts of about 40 mph were expected.

The wind gusts, instead, reached between 20 mph and 25 mph - not as fearsome as anticipated, but enough to cause drifting and some blowing snow conditions. That blowing snow advisory remains in effect until noon today.

O'Hare officials announced there are no flight delays out of either airport in Chicago this morning. They said, however, 50 arriving flights were canceled at O'Hare this morning and 20 outbound flights out of Midway were canceled due to the weather.

They also said passengers planning to travel through O'Hare and Midway today should check their airline's Web site or contact by phone to check the status of their flight.

The National Weather Service issued another blizzard warning for Wednesday morning rush hour, as the cold arctic blast expected from up north descends on the Chicago area. With windchill factored in, it could be as cold as 20 below Wednesday morning, with an additional 2-inches to 4-inches of snow expected.

School officials closed a handful of schools Tuesday due to the anticipated blizzard. People should check to see if there individual school has been closed by clicking the link on this page.

Officials from the Chicago Department of Aviation said O'Hare reported delays of 30 to 90 minutes at 8:30 p.m. Monday night, and more than 300 flights were canceled. Midway canceled about 50 flights due to poor visibility. O'Hare officials intend to update those numbers at about 8:30 a.m., officials said.

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