Light Snow: Flight Delays, Minor Crashes

The weather widget nonchalantly says "a dusting," but the light snow has still caused minor flight delays at O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport.

According to the Department of Aviation, O'Hare is experiencing 30 minute flight delays as well as some cancellations. Midway has a few flight cancellations but no delays.

This is due to a "persistent band of light snow that has lasted for the past 24 hours," according to National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Boxell.

O'Hare, Midway and I-55 have all experienced light snowfall, he said, and Chicagoans should anticipate an additional inch or less throughout the day, with a downward trend.

"By the afternoon there will be very light snow showers or flurries," he said.

An Illinois State Police District Chicago trooper said they "have been getting a steady stream of calls of traffic accidents, but no entrapments. Just cars in ditches." Many of the accidents have occurred on Illinois Rt. 53 near Woodfield, she said.

District 15 state police Master Sgt. Juan Morales said by 9 a.m. they were responding to four accidents but that the roadways were clear.

According to a Joliet District state trooper, the LaGrange Road ramps on and off Interstate 80 have been a "hot spot" for crashes this morning.

As of about 9 a.m. police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said police had no weather-related incidents to report.

At 11 a.m., snow command reported that the 175 snow fighting trucks which had been dispatched Friday were still patrolling Chicago’s main route system, which includes city main streets and Lake Shore Drive, according to a release from the Dept. of Streets & Sanitation.

The release said while snow has been relatively light, it has been persistent. That, combined with freezing temperatures, is the main reason for keeping the trucks on rotation, the release said.