More than 800 flights canceled at O'Hare, Midway due to storm

The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights in and out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport Friday night due to a sprawling winter storm hitting large sections of the Midwest that led to the closure of schools, universities and government offices.

The FAA lifted the stop at 9:45 p.m., but by then hundreds of flights already were canceled Friday at at one of the nation's busiest airports. At 8:15 p.m., the Chicago Department of Aviation was reporting 670 flights had been canceled at O'Hare, with 169 flights canceled at Midway, the city's other international airport.

“If there is travel you don't need to make, consider postponing it,” said meteorologist Ricky Castro.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, Will and Kankakee counties until 6 a.m. Saturday, and one began earlier today for Boone, DeKalb, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Winnebago, Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, Ford and Livingston counties.

One to 3 inches of snow are expected Friday night, with higher totals of 3 to 5 inches in Chicago's Northern suburbs. The snow will be followed by ice and later sleet or freezing rain until Saturday morning, according to the ABC 7 AccuWeather Team.

On Saturday, the Chicago area can expect rain mixing to snow with some light additional accumulations.

Last weekend, the winter storm canceled more than 1,200 flights at Chicago airports.