Good afternoon!


The Blizzard of 2011 has finally ended in Chicago.  A little lasting lake effect is around, but is moving into NW Indiana.  This was indeed a historic snowfall, but it did NOT break the all-time record.  O'Hare finished with a whopping 20.2" and Midway at 20.9".  This is good enough for # 3 on the all-time biggest snows in Chicago.  The record of 23" in 1967 remains in tact! A truly historic storm that is now in the record books.  Snow topped 2" per hour in most areas and visibilities got down to 0 in a lot of areas also. Record breaking winds also blanket the area, with the lakefront seeing a 70 mph wind gusts and Midway and O'Hare each topping 60 mph. Snowfall totals came in the 16-22" range for most areas with Chicago seeing some of the highest totals.  This truly was an amazing blizzard as snow drifts top 6-7 feet in some areas. The city and neighboring villages will have a lot of cleaning up to do, and many area city schools are already closing for tomorrow!!! A full updated list of school closings will be posted in the Emergency Closings page.  USPS has shut down and Pace will shut down at 6pm tonight! It truly does look amazing with all this snow on the ground and snow mounds higher than people! Temperatures are going to drop throughout the day and only top out in the single digits tomorrow.  A full weather report will be posted later.


Snowfall Totals:
Elk Grove Village- 22"
Downer's Grove- 21.1"
Midway- 20.9"
O'Hare 20.2"
Oakbrook- 19.5"
DeKalb- 18.7"
Romeoville- 16.4"
Rockford- 14.3"


More totals to come as they are released! Enjoy the day!