Though Chicago’s first major winter storm of the season brought a fraction of the anticipated snowfall, the city’s two major airports are leading the nation in flight cancellations Monday morning, according to FlightAware.
As of 8 a.m.,144 flights scheduled to depart O’Hare Airport and 72 flights leaving Midway Airport had been canceled, according to FlightAware. An additional 135 flights scheduled to arrive at O’Hare and 52 at Midway were also canceled.
O’Hare reported 1.6 inches of snowfall and Midway saw 2.5 inches of snow as of 7 a.m., according to the National weather service. Over 5 inches of snow were reported in Kankakee and parts of northwest Indiana.
The weather service initially predicted 7 to 15 inches of snow for the Chicago area through Tuesday evening, though meteorologist Zachary Yack noted that the metro area should expect an additional “half an inch at worst” as the snow begins to taper off.
[The snow band] may stay just offshore of the city, so the city may not pick up much more,” Yack said.
A winter storm warning for Cook County is expected to expire at noon Monday.
Temperatures are expected to hover around 35 degrees in the city throughout the day, though wind chills are expected to be in the 20s with the potential to drop into the teens Monday night into early Tuesday.
Various warming and senior centers throughout the city will be open throughout the day in response to the frosty temperatures.
Yack urged commuters to drive with caution since road visibility can drop quickly beneath the snow band.
“Even though some of the snow totals weren’t as big in some spots as originally forecast, there is still some slick spots on the road because all the rain we got over the weekend did freeze a little bit,” Yack said.