More than 18 inches of snow fell in large parts of the Chicago area as a storm that began Sunday night smothered the area, at times bringing whiteout conditions and almost 2 inches of snow an hour into early Tuesday, according to forecasters.
Areas away from Lake Michigan, including the city’s official weather recording center at O’Hare International Airport, saw far less snow, according to preliminary reports released early Tuesday by the National Weather Service.
From the start of the storm system 6 p.m. Sunday night to 6 a.m. Tuesday, West Ridge and Oak Park both had seen 18.6 inches of snow, Evanston had gotten 18 inches, Midway Airport had seen 17.7 inches and O’Hare had recorded 7.5 inches. The South Loop, just outside McCormick Place, had 16.9 inches, while Forest Park had 17.3 inches and Albany Park recorded 16 inches of snow, according to the weather service.
The snowfall Tuesday marked the ninth straight day of more than a tenth of an inch of snow, tying the record for the longest stretch of days with snow since the weather service began keeping records of snowfall in Chicago in 1884. Snow was forecast again for Wednesday and Thursday.
“We have a decent chance of breaking that Wednesday and we also have snow in the forecast for Thursday, so if we break the record tomorrow, then there’s a good chance we could extend it to 11 days on Thursday,” said Todd Kluber, a meteorologist with the weather service.
“We’ve had more snow in three weeks than we’d typically get in the entire winter,” he said.
By Tuesday, it had snowed 16 of the past 23 days, making this one of the snowiest stretches since the late 1970s. What’s more, 40.1 inches of snow has fallen in roughly the past three weeks — about 5 inches more than the seasonal normal snowfall of 36.3 inches, Kluber said.
A combination of heavy bands of lake-effect snow and a massive winter storm that coated Texas and Oklahoma with near-historic snowfall before battering Illinois caused a large range of snowfall totals here, Kluber said. Travel and transit were slowed in the Chicago area, but in Illinois, only 28 customers were without power Tuesday morning, according to Commonwealth Edison spokesman John Schoen, who said there was no effect on “the system from the weather.”
The gradient between hard-hit areas and those that were relatively spared was so extreme that there may be as much as an inch difference from the west side of O’Hare to its east side, Kluber said.
“There’s a pretty substantial gradient between those areas that fell under a lake-effect band and those that didn’t,” he said. “…(Y)ou see it at a place like O’Hare, where the bands just barely grazed them, and Midway, where it set up. Volunteer observers had a lot of reports in the 13- to 18-inch range across the city into the near north suburbs and even into the south suburbs.”
Because O’Hare is the city’s official record center, Chicago’s total for the 36-hour storm remained 7.5 inches, Kluber said. So the weather service said it won’t count as an 18-inch storm, at least for the record books.
“As far as the overall event is concerned, officially it’s not going to make any top number of storms lists,” Kluber said.
The storm system pushed off into Canada and parts of New York and Maine, although lake-effect snow continued falling in some areas into late Tuesday morning.
The day’s commutes were slushy, slow and scary for some, regardless of their preferred mode of transportation.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation’s road conditions website, roads in Cook and all of the collar counties were completely covered in snow or ice, with all major interstates and expressways in the same boat, despite the state’s work, in tandem with city and county crews, to plow and salt area roads. Chicago had more than 400 snow vehicles on the streets.
The Chicago Transit Authority listed one service suspension or disruption after another. The Red, Purple, Yellow and Orange lines all experienced service interruptions because of track switching issues as a result of the weather.
Shuttle buses were deployed across the CTA system Tuesday morning on the Purple, Yellow and Red lines. As of 8:30 a.m., service was suspended on the Purple and Yellow lines and shuttle buses were still being used to move riders. The Red Line was operating with major delays after a previous disruption, according to the CTA website.
As of 9:15 a.m., more than 150 flights had been canceled at the city’s two major airports. O’Hare had 82 cancellations to Midway’s 73. O’Hare had an additional 105 delayed flights, 85 of which were departing flights, while Midway counted only three delays. Most delays at O’Hare were no longer than 30 minutes.
Meg Reile, spokesperson for Metra, didn’t sugarcoat it: “It’s a hard morning commute.”
The overnight snow caused a number of mechanical issues and switch failures across the Chicagoland system, Reile said. Crews were working to restore service, but riders were warned to expect 15- to 20-minute delays that could escalate depending on which line they were on.
The biggest issues appeared to be in the north suburbs, especially on the Union Pacific North Line, running up the shoreline to Kenosha. Vehicles, including a plow truck, became stuck at railroad crossings in Wilmette and Winthrop Harbor and had to be removed, Reile said.
Reile stressed that if a vehicle becomes stuck at a signal crossing, drivers should get out immediately. Locate the large blue and white sign identifying every Metra crossing and call the listed number. Then, stay away from your vehicle until help arrives. “In weather like this, it happens,” Reile said. “They weren’t off-roading or anything. Honestly, today, off-roading is kind of ‘driving’.”
A mechanical failure on the North Central line to Antioch required a train to be dragged with another engine, leading to delays of over an hour. Metra advised North Central riders to use the Milwaukee North Line instead, which shares a station at Prairie Crossing in Grayslake.
The delays were a problem, and the agency was doing everything it could to resolve them, Reile said. “Once you’re on the train, gonna be safe, dry and warm,” she added.
Illinois State Police spokeswoman Trooper Omoayena Williams said in the wake of the snowstorm: “Chicago was probably hit hardest, just because of its size.”
In total, state police recorded about 82 crashes in Chicago and Cook County from midnight Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Delila Garcia, a state police spokeswoman. Elgin-based State Police District 2, which handles other suburban counties, had 19 crashes, while on the state’s tollways from midnight Monday through 7 a.m. Tuesday, state police recorded a total of 49 crashes. Given the flood of calls from motorists, state police issued an emergency snow plan from 10:15 a.m. Monday until 3 a.m. Tuesday, limiting the response from troopers to only serious crashes with injuries.
The plan was briefly lifted, then reinstated around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday because of a continuing deluge of calls.
During a snow plan, motorists involved in fender benders without injuries are asked to exchange information and file a report with state police at a later time, Williams said.
“As always, we’re advising drivers to slow down, because a lot of these crashes could be avoided,” Williams said. “You also need to increase your following distance, and move over if you see a car at the side of the road, and stranded motorists. The roads are bad, and you need to give driving all your attention if you’re out there. But if you don’t have to be, as always, the best thing is to stay home.”
With a snow depth of more than 2 feet in much of the city, it wasn’t surprising that Chicago Public Schools and other school systems chose to call off in-person instruction Tuesday. Dozens of other area school districts made a similar decision, while others canceled school entirely, according to the Emergency Closing Center website.
In-person hearings at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse were postponed Tuesday due to the snow. Remote proceedings “will continue as scheduled,” according to a message from Thomas Bruton, the court clerk for the Northern District of Illinois. All employees who work at the building, at 219 S. Dearborn St., were expected to work from home.
Chief Judge Timothy Evans also announced that the Circuit Court in Cook County would be open, but only for videoconference and teleconference proceedings. His office warned people not to appear in court in person. Those who can’t attend via teleconference or videoconference due to technical limitations will not suffer any consequences and their dates can be rescheduled.
The Sixth Municipal District in Markham also was not hearing any criminal proceedings, and those hearings will be rescheduled.
In downtown Evanston, snow was piled waist-high on either side of some cleared sidewalks Tuesday morning, forming a narrow corridor through which stray pedestrians were walking. Some picked their way through knee-high snow on the sidewalks that rumbling snowblowers had not yet cleared, , while others gave up and trudged along the sides of plowed streets.
One woman posed for a picture in front of Evanston’s Carlson Building, complete with a snowy intersection as a backdrop, laughing as her companion returned her phone.
Windblown commuters waited for warm coffee at the Dunkin’ within the Davis Street CTA station, while others stood outside in haphazard lines, waiting for shuttle buses after some train lines went down, as all the while, snow kept falling.
The storms gave opportunities to some entrepreneurs.
Jaheim Cochrane, 17, said he made nearly $500 Monday shoveling snow on sidewalks and driveways of homes near his house in the Evanston area. Tuesday morning he woke up at 7 am to “get the larger houses out of the way” before his e-learning classes for Evanston Township High School, and he planned to head out again before football practice. Though he planned to invite some of his teammates to help out, Cochrane mostly shovels by himself, he said.
For Lupe Soto and her husband, Carlos Soto, owners of a snow removal company, the extra inches of snow “feel like a blessing after an extremely rough year because of the pandemic.”
Her husband was out until 2:30 a.m. and left again two hours later because the calls “are nonstop.”
They’ve been removing snow in residential buildings, alleys and commercial stores. Tuesday morning, Lupe Soto said, was “extremely busy.”
She and her husband have had almost no sleep.
But “thank the Lord, we needed this because we really got affected because of the pandemic, thank God we’re fine now,” she said.
In the spring and the summer, the Sotos run a family-owned trash hauling company that turns into snow removal in the winter. Along with her husband, her father-in-law also helps out, she said. They mostly serve North Shore suburbs.
“Stay safe out there,” she added.
Parts of Indiana were poised to be hardest hit by the storm, which meteorologists initially expected to drop 14 inches at most on the Chicago area. But Valparaiso not only had 16 inches of snowfall, but that amount accumulated by 10:40 p.m. Monday. Valparaiso and nearby communities could see an additional 6 inches Tuesday, forecasters said. Lake-effect snow largely was to blame for conditions across the border, since the phenomena was in effect throughout most of the day Monday, forecasters said.
The weather service said the lake-effect machine did shift to the Illinois shoreline for a time. Snow totals were only expected to increase once weather spotters begin submitting official measurements Tuesday morning.
With plows in Glencoe clearing roadways and dumping mountains of snow towering 30 feet high in some areas, officials with the village’s public safety department said crews were “working as fast as they can.”
The roads were especially slippery because of the seemingly never-ending snow being compacted by tires, then melting from salt and daytime sunlight, only to freeze over as temperatures drop, all of which is adding up to treacherous conditions, said Glencoe Public Safety Deputy Chief Rich Weiner.
“The travel times are at least double, so make sure you’ve got a full tank of gas, and if you don’t have to be somewhere, don’t be out on the roads today,” Weiner said.
In north suburban Northbrook, some side streets remained unplowed, but main roads including Willow Road were plowed and accessible. While some buildings, including the North Shore YMCA, were open and busy as normal at 5 a.m., district schools called a snow day. At daylight, the sounds of snowblowers were common to clean an estimated 5 inches of snow from sidewalks and driveways.
With the vast majority of school districts across Chicago and the suburbs declaring Tuesday a snow day, some districts, including Northbrook School District 28, have already rescheduled a makeup day to ensure students are not missing out on any instruction time.
“We will make up the day by holding classes on Monday, March 1, which was originally scheduled as a nonattendance day for Casimir Pulaski Day,” District 28 spokeswoman Terry Ryan said.
“With in-person pre-K through fifth grade students’ devices at school, March 1 will be a much more productive learning day for them, as well as for our in-person (Northbrook Junior High) students,” Ryan said.
Despite the North Shore getting pummeled by the recent snowstorm, Winnetka police said the relatively empty local roadways are likely why there had not yet been any traffic accidents as of Tuesday morning.
“Knock on wood, people have been really smart, and there’s not a lot of cars on the road today,” Winnetka police Chief Marc Hornstein said.
Still, traffic accidents are not the only potential dangers given all the snowfall in recent weeks, Hornstein said.
“You need to be smart, because there’s a lot of snow, and if you have any health challenges, you shouldn’t be shoveling, and maybe can pay one of the neighborhood kids who is home from school today to do the job,” Hornstein said.
While the prospect of driving on icy roads kept many folks at home on Fat Tuesday, it did not deter customers from lining up for paczki at The Bakester, a French patisserie and cafe in downtown Arlington Heights.
“Even with the weather, people are still coming in,” owner Sanja Srbulovic said.
Tuesday morning, the typically busy intersection of Milwaukee and Ashland avenues in Chicago was mostly clear and drivable, although few drivers returned to the metered spots. Some pedestrians made their way through the snow to stand under a CTA bus stop shelter or walk down into the Blue Line Division station as one man with a shovel and another on a small green tractor with a snow blade attachment worked together to clear pathways in the Polonia Triangle.
Around 11 a.m., 37-year-old Jeremy Williams directed three men, two with shovels and one on a John Deere tractor, where to move the snow at the triangle.
The group work for Cleanslate and were tasked with clearing sidewalks on Milwaukee from the Polonia Triangle to Western Avenue. They started at 5:45 a.m. and expected to keep going until 5 p.m. or later if it keeps snowing or if the tractor breaks down, which Williams said he estimates had an 80% chance of occurring. They have to call a mechanic when that happens, he said.
“We haven’t had a smooth day yet,” he said, noting they’ve been out about eight times so far this season to move snow.
Williams said the worst year to work was in 2014 during a polar vortex. The snow froze, making it hard to move. This year, “the snow is real light and fluffy so it’s easier,” he said.
If it doesn’t snow more, they’ll also throw salt on the ground, he said.
“It can be a pain at times, but it’s a job and it pays the bills,” Williams said.
In Evanston, Haddon Kay, 21, was digging the front half of his car out of a foot of snow. He was unbothered.
“I grew up around here, so I’m kind of used to it,” Kay said. “Although, it hasn’t been this bad in a few years.”
Kay, a cello student at Northwestern University, was on his way to pick up a friend and then head over to the university’s music school. Another half-foot of snow sat waiting on top of his silver car for when he finished shoveling.
Phil Reitz, 62, was nearing the hour mark of clearing the snow from around his Evanston home. His right half was coated in the fluffy, white snow thrown out by his snowblower.
“It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve seen so much snow,” said Reitz, a retired banker who once worked in the Loop. He’d seen severe episodic snowstorms, maybe, but the past three weeks had been a constant barrage of precipitation, he said.
As Reitz spoke, the door opened, and his 4-year-old rescue dog Auggie burst out, followed by Reitz’s wife, Peggy.
“He’s the only one that likes the snow!” she said of Auggie, a shaggy black Newfoundland. On cue, she turned to lead the dog on a romp around the neighborhood.
Check back for updates. For more weather news, visit the Tribune’s weather page.
Chicago Tribune’s Paige Fry, Jason Meisner, Laura Rodríguez Presa and Scott Powers contributed.
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