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Historic November snowfall pummels Chicago area; thousands still without power

Published  November 26, 2018 10:03pm CST
News
FOX 32 Chicago

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - More than 7 inches of snow fell at O’Hare International Airport from Sunday to Monday, marking the fifth-largest November snowfall in Chicago’s history.

O’Hare had seen 7.4 inches by 6 a.m. Monday, while Midway saw 3.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. The storm beat out the city’s previous fifth-largest November snowfall, which was recorded at 6.4 inches from Nov. 26 to 27 in 1940.

The largest two-day snowfall the city has seen in the month of November happened in 1895, when Chicago got a foot of snow from Nov. 25 to 26.

The north and northwest suburbs were hit even harder, with 9 inches reported in Lindenhurst and 8.3 inches in Des Plaines, according to the weather service. Woodstock reported 11.5 inches of snow by 5:35 a.m. Monday.

The snowfall left more than 176,000 ComEd customers without power across northern Illinois, including more than 24,000 in Chicago. As of noon, the total had fallen to 170,740 customers without power.

As of 11:30 a.m., 880 flights were canceled at O’Hare with delays averaging 75 minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Midway International Airport was reporting 70 cancelations with delays averaging less than 15 minutes.

The storm caused slick road conditions through Monday’s morning commute, with the Edens, Kennedy and Stevenson expressways reportedly “mostly covered” with ice or snow about 6:30 a.m. ahead of the morning rush.

The Metra Electric District line suspended service on its Blue Island branch because of wire problems about 11:40 a.m., according to the transit agency. Trains were running again shortly before 2 p.m.

The Union Pacific Northwest line was also experiencing delays up to an hour as of 2 p.m., Metra said. Downed power lines and a downed tree were also causing delays up to 46 minutes on the Union Pacific North line.

Delays on some other Metra lines ranged from 10 to 30 minutes, while the Heritage Corridor, the SouthWest Service, the Milwaukee District North and the North Central Service lines were not reporting any delays, according to Metra. Riders were advised to check Metra’s website and listen to platform announcements for the most up-to-date delay information.