(Chicago) Another day, another snowstorm. Wednesday’s burst of snow could leave up to 5 more inches of the white stuff, mainly in the south suburbs, before bitterly cold weather sweeps into the Chicago area later tonight.
Forecasters predicted the heaviest snow fall south of I-80, leaving another 2-5 inches by late Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Flakes were also falling in downtown Chicago by mid-morning, but parts of Cook County will only see another 1-2 inches of snow at most.
A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 3 p.m. for Joliet and Kendall counties in Illinois, and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana, the weather service said.
Residents there could see more than an inch of snow per hour at times, and heavy bursts of snow will reduce visibility and make travel difficult for motorists, the weather service said.
The new snow comes as the Chicago area continues to dig out from the weekend’s historic blizzard.
The city has 650 pieces of snow-removal equipment out Wednesday morning to continue clearing away more than 19 inches of snow that fell over the weekend, plus another wave of snow that fell Tuesday night.
The city’s deployment Wednesday morning will include 315 snow plows and salt spreaders and 335 pieces of heavy equipment, such as backhoes and dumps, according to Molly Poppe, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation. The city is renting some of the heavy equipment that will be used, Poppe said.
Three-hundred workers from the city’s departments of transportation and water will shovel and dig out snow around schools, parks, bus stops, fire and police stations and fire hydrants, Poppe said.
Both O’Hare and Midway airports were reporting normal operations as of Wednesday morning, according to the city’s Department of Aviation.
After the snow tapers off Wednesday afternoon, subzero temperatures are moving back in, forecasters said. Lows Wednesday night will drop to minus 10 in the suburbs and zero degrees downtown. Wind chills will feel like minus 10 to minus 20.
The bitter cold will stick around through Thursday, which will only reach a high in the teens with subzero wind chills in the morning, the weather service said.
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