More than 10 inches of snow dumped on parts of Chicago, but forecasters expect ‘round 2′ to miss the area; lake effect snow could add 5 inches along the shoreline
Helen Tribue and her son, Kevin Wynn, worked together to shovel the snow piled around Tribue’s jeep Wednesday afternoon in Bronzeville.
Wynn’s shovel occasionally struck a black ice boulder, which he picked up and tossed away.
More than 10 inches of snow had fallen in parts of Chicago and Cook County by 4:30 p.m., while the city’s official storm tally reported at O’Hare International Airport maxed out at 5.6 inches as of 4:30 p.m., National Weather Service meteorologists reported.
After checking the news and seeing traffic was bad and more lake effect snow was expected, Wynn called in to his job, and the family decided to stay home and wait out the storm.
The mother-son duo had been clearing snow throughout the day to keep it from accumulating too much, Tribue said.
“So you know if you can get it moved early that’s what we do. We shovel in bursts,” Tribue said. “We don’t just wait and say, ‘we’ll just wait till it stops.’ No. I know it’s hard, but you gotta shovel in little bursts, you know, every few hours.”
When she saw a snowplow driving up Prairie Avenue, Tribue waved it down and jumped in her car to move it so the snowplow driver could remove some of the snow from where her car was parallel parked.
She says her jeep has been a lifesaver during snowstorms, the 4x4 allowing her to leave her house despite heavy snow.
Just north of Bronzeville, 7.8 inches of snow were recorded near McCormick Place.
The highest total recorded snow during the storm around Chicago was 11 inches at Midway Airport and in Oak Lawn. In the city, the highest total was 9 inches in Lakeview. Cedar Lake, Indiana, got 12.5 inches of snow, the highest in the area the National Weather Service in Chicago monitors, said Jake Petr, a meteorologist with the Weather Service.
Forecasters initially said the weather system would bring two rounds of snow to the area, but Casey Sullivan, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the latest models now show “round two″ largely missing the Chicago metro area and even points south.
There will, however, be the possibility of lake effect snow along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Sullivan said that could add as much as 2 to 5 inches of snow to communities near the lake that typically experience the lake effect.
“That round two is basically going south, so we’re not looking for anything significant from it. However, we are going to get some lake effect snow. It’s still uncertain whether it sets up on any one location or whether it’s all over the place, so 2 to 5 inches is possible, but there’s a lot of variation to be expected,” Sullivan said. “Even in those areas where we expect lake effect snow, it doesn’t mean they’re all necessarily going to get it. Some could get a dusting while others get 5 inches.”
Other storm totals include: 10 inches at the weather service’s office in Romeoville; 9.3 inches in Peotone; 9.5 inches in Oswego; 6.8 inches in Naperville; 11 inches in Crest Hill; 10 inches in Steger, in southern Cook County; 8.5 inches in Valparaiso, Indiana.
A few blocks from Tribue and Wynn, on Calumet Avenue, Rashat Seidu scraped ice and brushed snow off his car. He was headed to the North Side to meet up with someone, he said. His sixth winter in Chicago, Seidu said he’s used to the winters, but they’re nothing like the weather in his home country of Ghana, where the coldest it gets is about 65 degrees, he said.
In Evanston on Wednesday afternoon, the snow was “coming down so fast that you pretty much can’t see anything, ‘’ said Northwestern University undergraduate student Lauren Masse, holding a Whole Foods bag.
Masse said she had trekked from her apartment through mostly snow-covered sidewalks to get cupcake ingredients for a project in her public speaking class.
Northwestern’s classes were not canceled Wednesday, though some students said their professors gave them a remote option.
“I was considering Ubering home, and then I figured I would grin and bear it,” Masse said.
A few blocks closer to Northwestern’s campus, Evanston resident Peter Mitchell was shoveling a walkway when his dog, Chuck, rushed out into the piles of powder.
Chuck usually likes snow “until his feet freeze up or get caught on salt,” Mitchell said.
On a break from at-home work in his marketing research job, Mitchell said he was looking forward to cross-country skiing in the Chicago area after the storm.
He had broken out his Pook hat, a sock puppetlike Canadian beanie purchased from the Christkindlmarket, just for shoveling. “I don’t wear it very often because it’s kind of stupid. But it’s a lot of fun. For a day like today, it’s perfect.”
Earlier, between 7 and 8 a.m., meteorologist Mike Bardou said snowfall rates were approaching 1.5 inches per hour in areas south of the Interstate 55 corridor, prompting the weather service to Tweet: “This is the worst part of this storm, and when (snow) will accumulate the fastest!”
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Multiple traffic collisions were reported throughout the area, although there had not been reports of any fatalities. Part of Interstate 57 north in Bradley, at milepost 315 in Kankakee County, was closed after a semitrailer jackknifed, blocking all northbound lanes, according to Illinois State Police.
Air travel also was affected. Some 657 flights had been canceled at O’Hare as of 1:20 p.m. — about half of them departures and half arrivals, according to statistics on the city’s Department of Aviation website. Delays also were mounting, with nearly 500 flights affected at O’Hare.
At Midway Airport, 83 flights had been canceled and 117 flights were delayed, according to the website.
Amtrak had canceled several trains Wednesday and Thursday, including trains between Chicago and Carbondale, St. Louis and cities in Michigan and on the East Coast.
Serious concerns remained about the safety of the roadways, as many in the area were snow and ice-covered, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Chicago Public Schools tweeted at 5 a.m. Wednesday that all buildings are open for in-person classes, adding a decision about Thursday is pending.
Most in-person court cases were preemptively canceled as of Tuesday night. Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office announced that most in-person court proceedings would be canceled Wednesday and Thursday, though bond court and juvenile detention hearings may be heard in the courthouse.
Anyone scheduled to appear in court for a hearing via Zoom should still log in to video court if they can, according to Evans’ office.
For a complete list of closures in the Chicago metro area — including updates from most public and private school districts, colleges and municipal governments — visit the Emergency Closing Center website.
The Chicago Fire Department was calling for assistance from the public to help dig out fire hydrants buried in snow Wednesday morning. In a social media post, officials said: “CFD really needs your help so we can do our best to serve you. Please dig out fire hydrants near your home.”
Ahead of the storm, Bill Barnes, executive director of the Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security, said the agency — which serves as a coordination hub between the county and its municipalities — had a “singular mission” to “ensure the collective preparedness in advance of and safety during the storm of all of our residents.”
“If you’re using space heaters, be mindful of where you place them — keep them away from drapes or flammable materials. Monitor them, don’t leave them alone, don’t leave children and pets alone with them,” Barnes said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference with Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. “Please take the time to put together a plan for you, your family and for your pets, so that you have food and water for the next five days in case you lose power.”
Barnes also warned of the danger of keeping pets outside too long, warned people not to use propane or charcoal grills indoors regardless of the temperature. He was joined by Dr. Trevor Lewis, chair of emergency medicine at Cook County Health, who said while “the obvious thing to be concerned about is our safety on the roadways,” residents also should be on the lookout for signs of frostbite, frostnip, hypothermia and, for those who work up their heart rate while shoveling, to know the signs of a heart attack.
“We typically see an increase in heart attacks during this period of time from shoveling,” Lewis said. “Remember to push the snow as opposed to lifting the snow up.”
If you begin to feel nauseous or experience shortness of breath or difficulty breathing while shoveling, stop and seek medical attention, he said, adding that emergency rooms are still safe amid COVID-19.
Preckwinkle also warned that “conditions can deteriorate rapidly and unexpectedly, so we encourage drivers to keep an emergency first aid kit in their cars.”
If you must travel during the storm, take:
A shovel
A windshield scraper
A small broom
Road salt or cat litter for traction
Jumper cables
A flashlight with extra batteries
Extra hats, socks, gloves and blankets
Emergency flares, reflectors
Water and snacks
A first aid kit, and
Any medications you may need if stranded
How to stay safe
• Wear multiple layers including a hat and gloves or mittens.
• Know the signs of hypothermia. Seek emergency help if someone is experiencing intense shivering, slurred speech and drowsiness as well as loss of coordination. Hypothermia is when the body loses heat faster than it can be produced.
• Keep heat at adequate levels or leave faucets open with a slight drip to prevent pipes from freezing.
• If you have to drive, keep a first aid kit in your car.
• Find a map and list of warming centers here. The list will be updated daily.
• Sign up for Alert Cook to receive text notifications and updates by texting “alertcook” to 888777.
Check back for updates and get more weather information by visiting the Tribune’s weather page.
Chicago Tribune reporters Megan Crepeau and Sarah Freishtat contributed.
Twitter @312BreakingNews
