Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Chicagoans love to boast about how used to the snow they are, but this winter it seems even the heartiest ones are saying enough is enough.

For the better part of the day, the snow fell, and with the snow came the usual headaches and problems.

Despite the deployment of the city's full main fleet of snow fighting trucks, it was slow-going for the evening rush hour, which was complicated by several spin out, fender benders, and crashes.

Even snow plows got caught up in the mix, and those who depend on public transportations were especially frustrated with Mother Nature.

"Lately I've been getting really sick of it," said commuter Seth Hoekstra. "It mostly has an impact on my transit schedule."

Chicagoans says they've weathered winter after winter in the Windy City, but this one has been a difficult one.

"The thing that kills it is that it's up and down, the seesaw," said Chicagoan David Robinson. "One day it's 40. The next day it's cold. The next day it's icy. Then it's rain. Then it's snow."

"I feel like it's some kind of punishment," said Jetta Bates. "I'm cold. I'm really cold."

As CBS 2 North Suburban Bureau Chief Katie McCall reports, it was hard to see much of anything in Lake and Cook counties as drivers faced poor visibility and slick streets.

The snow made it difficult for rush hour traffic to keep moving, and already things are very dangerous on the roads.

Drivers in eastern Lake County are going to see some of the worst driving conditions, and truckers who drive I-94 say they expect to dodge a lot of out-of-control cars.

"You get people that drive crazy lose control of vehicles …it's hard for me to stop in a big semi," said truck driver George Madouros. "Slow down. You don't have to go high speeds, just take your time."

While the snow Tuesday hasn't been heavy, it's been falling steadily throughout the area, causing cancellations and delays at both airports.

A combination of bad weather moving through Chicago and on the East Coast has canceled more than 400 flights at O'Hare as of 6:30 p.m., according to City Department of Aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham. The weather has also caused delays averaging two hours at O'Hare.

At Midway, there have been about a dozen cancellations, and delays are averaging 45 minutes, Cunningham said.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, the road conditions before sunrise Tuesday morning showed few problems. But overnight, low temperatures created icy conditions everywhere, and as a result, accidents and spinouts everywhere.

At Monroe and Green streets on the Near West Side, a car collided with a snowplow. City officials always warn motorists to steer clear of those plows. On the expressways, there were numerous spinouts and crashes, causing injuries to some motorists and lots of body damage to vehicles.

Downstate, freezing rain and icy roads shut down Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for the day, and also forced the cancellation of several Greyhound bus routes, leaving passengers stranded in Chicago.

"Cold out here, cold inside, the seats are cast iron seats, and they're not comfortable at all," said Georgette, a Michigan resident. "They closed the ticket booth down because you can't buy a ticket going nowhere south. You only can go back north, and we've just come from north. We don't want to go back."

The bus passengers said the station was crowded with travelers, including children, and they were told they would be stuck there for 6 to 10 hours. Many routes were affected by icy conditions on Interstate 55 near St. Louis. More On The Greyhound Delays

At O'Hare International Airport, a Traffic Management Program was put into effect for arriving flights because of snow and ice, according to the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center. This caused some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 40 minutes, according to the FAA.

At Midway Airport, only eight of the 50 flights scheduled to arrive between 9 a.m. and noon ran late, according to the Web site flightstats.

The conditions on city roads were likely improved because the Department of Streets and Sanitation sent out all 273 of its snow fighting trucks at midnight because more snow was anticipated.

CBS 2's Ed Curran says the snow on Tuesday is only expected to amount to an inch or two if even that. Still, this year has been one of the snowiest in recorded meteorological history. Usually by this time in February, about 23 inches of snow have fallen, but this season, we have had 43 inches.

CBS 2's Mai Martinez, Katie McCall, Joanie Lum and Ed Curran contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Editor's Picks

• Real Or Fake?
• Celebs Who Lean To The Right
• Top 10 Smartest And Dumbest Dog Breeds
• World's Most Useless Facts