Wind gusts blow snow across Chicago as airport woes persist

Snow will be winding down across Chicago in a few hours, where the combination of the government shutdown and the weather has added to the more than 1,500 flights grounded nationwide.

As of 6:30 a.m. local time, 367 flights were canceled at Chicago’s O’Hare International and Midway airports, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking company. While snow reports were still being compiled, at least 12 inches fell in Momence, Illinois, about 50 miles south of downtown Chicago, said David Roth, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center.

Roth said a band of lake effect snow was sweeping into northern Chicago, but the worst is over for most of the area. Gusty winds will likely blow around what has fallen and with temperatures forecast to rise to 34 degrees there will be some melting.

In total, as much as 4 inches of snow will likely fall in Chicago itself, less than Sunday’s forecast of upwards of 12 inches.

“I would say, except for the north side of Chicago, it is mostly over,” Roth said.

The storm added to flight cancellations and delays caused by the U.S. government shut down in recent days. Late Monday, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to end the record-breaking shut down. The House must now vote on the legislation.

In addition to the snow in Chicago, cold is sweeping through the Central and Eastern U.S. with temperatures dropping and potentially tying or breaking 39 records for the date, mainly across the South, the Weather Prediction Center said.

In New York’s Central Park, the temperature may hit the freezing mark of 32 late Monday, while Atlanta is forecast to fall to 27 and Tallahassee, Florida to 31. The chill will be short-lived, with readings becoming milder later this week.