With the threat of a major winter storm hanging over Chicago ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend, government officials warned residents to hunker down and stay safe as airlines and rail services announced cancellations and schedule modifications to their services, adding to the stress of the estimated 113 million people who were expected to travel in the U.S. for the long holiday weekend.
“First and foremost, if you don’t have to travel during this storm, please don’t,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said at a Wednesday news conference. “I recognize that many people have last-minute shopping to do in advance of the holiday weekend, but the easiest way to avoid the dangers of a storm is to stay home if you possibly can.” She urged people to work from home in the coming days, if possible.
While Chicago was expected to wake up to a balmy 30 degrees Thursday, forecasters warned that an arctic cold front is expected to sweep through around 1 p.m., bringing a temperature drop of 15 to 20 degrees in about two hours, said Mark Ratzer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Chicago.
Snow is expected to start falling around 11 a.m., and increase as the day goes on. Wind chills will reach around 25 to 30 degrees below zero across the entire Chicago area by late Thursday night into Friday morning. Winds of up to 45 and 50 mph will blow the fine, fluffy snow, thus reducing visibility considerably, creating near-whiteout conditions at times.
Snowfall is initially likely to melt on roads into water and then freeze into ice as temperatures drop, creating dangerous conditions for driving, particularly late Thursday, weather experts said. Mobilization of plows will begin Thursday, said Cook County transportation Superintendent Sis Killen.
But, she said, even after the snow is cleared, sections of roadway could be covered quickly again thanks to blowing snow.
“Our crews are going to be working diligently to monitor conditions and keep the roadways as clear as possible,” she said, asking drivers not to crowd or attempt to pass them. “Our dedicated drivers will be working around the clock … until (county-maintained) roads are completely clear.”
County and city officials encouraged people to fill prescriptions and gas tanks, and prepare emergency kits for their cars. Drivers should have at least a half a tank of gas, a shovel, a windshield scraper, a small broom, road salt, a tow chain, jumper cables, emergency flares, a flashlight, hats, gloves, blankets, a first aid kit and necessary medications, they said.
Meanwhile, as of Wednesday evening, 341 flights scheduled for Thursday at O’Hare International Airport had been canceled, according to the website FlightAware. Southwest Airlines had canceled 150 Thursday flights at Midway Airport, with the airline saying that it had reduced operations at some airports — primarily Midway and Denver — as the storm approached.
Across the airline’s entire network, it had canceled about 500 of nearly 4,000 flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“The safety of employees and customers is Southwest’s top priority and proactive schedule adjustments aim to ensure safe operations, protect the integrity of the entire Southwest network, and limit subjecting our people to dangerous working conditions,” Southwest executives said a statement posted to the carrier’s website.
Ground transportation services will also experience modifications and cancellations as the weekend begins. Metra said it would reduce service on most lines Friday in anticipation of the potential blizzard, and because fewer commuters were expected to head into offices as Christmas approached.
Snowstorm to affect Chicago travel ahead of Christmas