| Chicago Tribune | - |
Snow
is falling, temperatures will be falling precipitously later in the
day, and the ongoing combination of snow, icy winds, and dangerous
below-zero temperatures is drawing this kind of advice: Stay inside.
Chicago weather forecast in a word: 'Brutal'
|
CAPTIONS
Snow is falling, temperatures
will be falling precipitously later in the day, and the ongoing
combination of snow, icy winds, and dangerous below-zero temperatures is
drawing this kind of advice: Stay inside.
According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for the next 6-24 hours is unchanged: snow first, then some serious, dangerous, below-zero cold that will last into Tuesday. That forecast has already led to a blizzard's worth of closings -- of schools, zoos and the like -- and will no doubt lead to a difficult Monday morning rush hour as people head back to work after the holidays.
In the words of National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Fenelon, looking ahead to that Monday morning commute: "It's going to be brutal."
The snowfall has begun to
taper off, Fenelon said Sunday morning, and once it stops falling
entirely this afternoon, no new snow is expected to fall for several
days.
"But we're not out of the woods yet," said Fenelon, noting that the freshly fallen snow will be whipped by high winds, resulting in terrible driving conditions and low visibility.
As of 10 a.m. winds at Midway were 15 mph; at O'Hare, they were 17 mph. "They will get to as high at 35 mph this afternoon," he said.
Then, the bitter cold will grip us during "a steady decline" in temperatures. At 10 a.m., it was 21 degrees at Midway International Airport and 17 at O'Hare. At 5 p.m., O'Hare should drop to about 11 degrees; by 6 or 7 a.m. Monday, it will be minus 15, Fenelon said.
During Monday morning's "brutal" commute, lows will range from minus 13 in the Loop to perhaps minus 15 at O'Hare to minus 20 in the outlying areas, Fenelon said.
Chicago's all-time lowest temperature is 11 below zero on Dec. 24, 1983. "We will be right in that territory tomorrow," Fenelon said.
Wind chills will change from minus 38 to minus 45 but will bottom out there, he said.
"The winds are constantly varying and you're really going to want to bundle up," Fenelon said. "That sort of wind and cold can be very life threatening."
A lot of people may go sledding, skiing, snowshoeing or the like this afternoon to take advantage of the snow that's already on the ground -- Fenelon said since Dec. 29, 17.9 inches of snow has fallen at O'Hare. As of about noon Sunday, according to the weather service, 9 inches has fallen at O'Hare in this snowstorm, 8.4 inches at the weather service's Romeoville headquarters, and 6.9 inches at Midway.
But Fenelon recommends not going outside: "It's a good day to cozy up with a warm hot chocolate and watch football or read a good book."
A lot of people will be taking that advice Monday since many Chicago-area schoolchildren won't be in school. Hundreds of schools have already announced the intention to close on Monday, according to the WGN Radio Emergency Closing Center, though Chicago Public Schools has said school will be open and is leaving the decision on whether children attend up to their parents.
Others have also announced they are shutting down Moday. Brookfield Zoo said in an e-mailed release Sunday that it would be closed Monday because of the snow and sub-zero weather, though staff will be on hand to care for the animals and take care of snow removal. Abt Electronics said in an e-mailed release Friday that it was cancelling all Monday deliveries, about 700 in total on about 120 trucks, because of the cold weather.
The weather has also led to problems at Chicago-area airports. As of 7:50 a.m. airlines at O'Hare are reporting "minor delays" because of de-icing issues, according to the city's Department of Aviation. Airlines have "proactively" canceled about 1,200 flights there.
Airlines at Midway are reporting "mostly on time operations"’ with more 60 flights canceled, the department said.
Temperatures will moderate "a little" on Tuesday and we should see a high of close to zero or a couple of degrees above and we will be back to 30 degrees in Thursday and a high of 33 on Friday, Fenelon said.
rsobol@tribune.com | Twitter: @RosemarySobol1
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According to the National Weather Service, the forecast for the next 6-24 hours is unchanged: snow first, then some serious, dangerous, below-zero cold that will last into Tuesday. That forecast has already led to a blizzard's worth of closings -- of schools, zoos and the like -- and will no doubt lead to a difficult Monday morning rush hour as people head back to work after the holidays.
In the words of National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Fenelon, looking ahead to that Monday morning commute: "It's going to be brutal."
"But we're not out of the woods yet," said Fenelon, noting that the freshly fallen snow will be whipped by high winds, resulting in terrible driving conditions and low visibility.
As of 10 a.m. winds at Midway were 15 mph; at O'Hare, they were 17 mph. "They will get to as high at 35 mph this afternoon," he said.
Then, the bitter cold will grip us during "a steady decline" in temperatures. At 10 a.m., it was 21 degrees at Midway International Airport and 17 at O'Hare. At 5 p.m., O'Hare should drop to about 11 degrees; by 6 or 7 a.m. Monday, it will be minus 15, Fenelon said.
During Monday morning's "brutal" commute, lows will range from minus 13 in the Loop to perhaps minus 15 at O'Hare to minus 20 in the outlying areas, Fenelon said.
Chicago's all-time lowest temperature is 11 below zero on Dec. 24, 1983. "We will be right in that territory tomorrow," Fenelon said.
Wind chills will change from minus 38 to minus 45 but will bottom out there, he said.
"The winds are constantly varying and you're really going to want to bundle up," Fenelon said. "That sort of wind and cold can be very life threatening."
A lot of people may go sledding, skiing, snowshoeing or the like this afternoon to take advantage of the snow that's already on the ground -- Fenelon said since Dec. 29, 17.9 inches of snow has fallen at O'Hare. As of about noon Sunday, according to the weather service, 9 inches has fallen at O'Hare in this snowstorm, 8.4 inches at the weather service's Romeoville headquarters, and 6.9 inches at Midway.
But Fenelon recommends not going outside: "It's a good day to cozy up with a warm hot chocolate and watch football or read a good book."
A lot of people will be taking that advice Monday since many Chicago-area schoolchildren won't be in school. Hundreds of schools have already announced the intention to close on Monday, according to the WGN Radio Emergency Closing Center, though Chicago Public Schools has said school will be open and is leaving the decision on whether children attend up to their parents.
Others have also announced they are shutting down Moday. Brookfield Zoo said in an e-mailed release Sunday that it would be closed Monday because of the snow and sub-zero weather, though staff will be on hand to care for the animals and take care of snow removal. Abt Electronics said in an e-mailed release Friday that it was cancelling all Monday deliveries, about 700 in total on about 120 trucks, because of the cold weather.
The weather has also led to problems at Chicago-area airports. As of 7:50 a.m. airlines at O'Hare are reporting "minor delays" because of de-icing issues, according to the city's Department of Aviation. Airlines have "proactively" canceled about 1,200 flights there.
Airlines at Midway are reporting "mostly on time operations"’ with more 60 flights canceled, the department said.
Temperatures will moderate "a little" on Tuesday and we should see a high of close to zero or a couple of degrees above and we will be back to 30 degrees in Thursday and a high of 33 on Friday, Fenelon said.
rsobol@tribune.com | Twitter: @RosemarySobol1
end quote from:
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