Dec 23, 2008 11:04 pm US/Central
Snow No! Another Blast Of Winter Hits Chicago
Holiday Travel Impacted: Delays & Cancellations At O'Hare, Midway
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Two words separate many from a happy start to the holidays. By air - major delays and cancellations. And by ground - the cold reality of gridlock as a dangerous wintry mix makes roads even more slippery than usual. Bone-chilling temperatures, heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain - severe winter weather is taking aim at Chicago.
The full fleet of snow fighting trucks is shifting from the city's main streets to side streets Tuesday night as the winter weather has already caused massive flight cancellations for holiday air travelers.
For the eighth day in a row, Chicago's full fleet of 274 snow-fighting trucks hit the streets as a winter storm--slated to drop 2 to 4 more inches of snow--came through the area.
At 8 p.m., the full fleet of snow fighting trucks began moving from the city's main routes to side streets, according to a release from the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation. Twenty-four smaller plows will work with the snow fighting trucks on the city's 3,300-mile network of side streets. The full fleet is expected to be on the side streets for several hours.
The light snow that started early Tuesday morning with snow accumulating in the late morning will turn to a mix of sleet and freezing rain into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
As the sleet and freezing rain hits the area, the temperatures are also predicted to climb to nearly 30 degrees about 4 a.m. Wednesday. Approximately 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet could accumulate overnight. A winter weather advisory remains until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The rise in temperatures has prompted Streets and Sanitation to discontinue using special calcium chloride-enhanced salts.
"One factor in our favor will be a dramatic rise in temperatures which could rise to freezing or above in the early morning hours," said Streets and Sans Spokesman Matt Smith.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that as freezing rain continues to fall, the road conditions were the same everywhere - sloppy.
"I-55 is jacked up," said driver Barb Villeda.
And it's the expressway CBS 2 chose tonight - covered with slushy snow and a layer of ice. It kept commuters barely rolling at just under 10 miles an hour. The drive from the Loop to the Cicero exit took about an hour-and-a-half.
"It's the last one they plow," Villeda said. "And Kingery, you can see what a mess that is."
Carlos Fernandez drove his snow-packed pickup on several highways today with similar experiences all around.
"A few people fishtailing out there and you know trying to avoid each other because it's so slippery out there," Fernandez said.
It was a snowfall that came crashing down at the Lockport Township Highway Department. Early Tuesday morning, the weight of the snow and ice buckled the roof of this steel garage.
"It was probably the loudest boom I've heard," said Lockport Township Highway Commissioner Jack Waxweiler.
He says workers could see cracks in some of the tresses Monday. The drivers moved the snow-moving equipment out before the roof fell in.
"Nobody was in there, we never went in after 12:00 yesterday because we never knew when it was going to go in," Waxweiler said. "It was going to go but it was too dangerous to walk inside there."
That commissioner says the department is not letting the roof collapse stop them from doing their job. They're still on the road to clear some 48 miles in Lockport Township.
At O'Hare Airport, the news is not good for passengers trying to head out tonight. More than 500 flights were cancelled Tuesday and most of those still flying out are delayed two hours or more.
Midway isn't as bad. But it's thrown a lot of people's holiday plans up in the air - so to speak.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports if luggage could talk, lots of suitcases at O'Hare would be wondering where their owners were tonight. Either the baggage made it but the travelers didn't, or -
"We can't find our baggage, either," said stranded traveler Lindsey Hurley. "They're just from all the cancelled flights, so we've been waiting here for a long time."
That's the type of day and night it's been at one of the world's busiest airports as winter weather threw flight schedules out of whack. Lisa Clough, for example, just finished a semester in China – 6,600 miles away - only to find herself stuck here, a mere 500 miles from her Rochester, New York home.
"Beijing to Shanghai, Shanghai to Chicago, Chicago to Rochester, but it's not gonna happen," said stranded traveler Lisa Clough.
There are always those who take travel snafus in stride including newlyweds Noah and Anna Chang. Their flight to Seattle is only 30 minutes late – for now.
"I'm pretty confident, yeah," said traveler Noah Chang. "Seattle looks okay, so yeah. I think it will be alright. I'm not too worried about it."
"Everything's gonna happen for the best," said passenger Carolyn Taliaferra.
Others aren't so sure they'll be getting off the ground.
Ken Prodoehl and his fiancée already took a bus from Milwaukee to Chicago after the first leg of their trip was canceled. Now the second leg of their flight is delayed too.
"Probably two to two-and-a-half times more. We decided to leave four or five hours earlier than we normally would have so that's the total trip time," said traveler Ken Prodoehl.
Some find ways to pass the time. 'Simon says' or doodling might do.
"Our mom brought us our backpack with some coloring and stuff like that in it, maybe we can do some of that stuff," said delayed traveler Bailey Hara.
People just want to get to where they're going - especially for the holidays. A lucky few just might tonight.
"We're headed out, 10:15 Dallas," said traveler Marlin Gilmer. "We're ready, yeah, just got an e-mail, said it was good."
Because of all the cancellations today, several flights out Wednesday already sold out, so stranded passengers could end up being stranded through tomorrow and into Christmas.
Aviation officials urge travelers to check with their airline before leaving for the airport and to arrive at the airport two hours prior to flights due to high volume holiday travel and winter weather conditions.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov, Pamela Jones and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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