Two inches of snow falls on Chicago, to be followed by coldest temps of season

A light but steady snow made driving hazardous and forced the cancellation of more than a hundred flights at O’Hare and Midway airports.

By Sun-Times Wire

People cross the street in Rogers Park on the North Side after several inches of snow fell overnight across the Chicago area, Monday afternoon, Jan. 24, 2022.

The Chicago area saw its second major snowfall in a week Monday morning, ahead of a deep freeze forecast for Tuesday night when windchills could fall to minus 19 degrees.

The snow started falling early Monday and, by noon, 2.2 inches of snow had fallen at O’Hare International Airport, and 2 inches at Midway Airport, the National Weather Service said.

More than 100 flights were cancelled at O’Hare and more than 50 at Midway, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

A winter weather advisory that expired at noon predicted between 2 and 3 inches of snowfall.

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Though the snow was light, cold temperatures allowed it to stick to untreated roads. The morning commute was down to a crawl in some areas.

Plows in Chicago moved from arterial to residential streets Monday afternoon, according to Department of Streets and Sanitation spokeswoman Mimi Simon. Temperatures were favorable for snow removal and road conditions were expected to improve by the evening commute, she said.

The plows have been rolling since Saturday evening, when another snow system moved through the area and dropped nearly 4 inches of snow in the city.

Monday’s snowfall will be followed by some of the coldest temperatures of the season, with highs in the teens Tuesday and Wednesday, and a low below zero Tuesday night. The windchill could reach 19 degrees below zero at O’Hare then, according to the Weather Service.

Warming centers in Chicago and suburban Cook County have opened in anticipation of the freezing temperatures Tuesday night.

Warming centers in Chicago are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A complete list is available here.

A complete list of warming centers in suburban Cook County is available here.