O’Hare, Midway Cancel Hundreds of Flights For Wintry Weather

Story by NBC 5 Chicago

O’Hare and Midway airports on Saturday canceled hundreds of flights as the season’s first snow blanketed the Chicago area.

O’Hare International Airport reported more than 580 flight cancellations and delays of one hour or more as of 4:45 p.m. Midway International Airport canceled more than 190 flights and reported delays of 30 minutes or more.

NBC 5 weather models showed more snow expected for the area throughout Saturday as temperatures fall to below freezing.

The northern suburbs saw as much as a foot of snow overnight with the heaviest band of snow falling in the far northern and northwestern counties. Grayslake saw 16 inches overnight and Capron in Boone County recorded 18.5 inches.

The first accumulating snow fell Friday evening, with precipitation beginning as a rain and snow mix before transitioning to steady snow in the late hours of the night.

The Winter Storm Warning went into effect at 9 p.m. and remained active until 5 p.m. Saturday. In Lake and Porter counties in Indiana, the Winter Storm Warning was extended until 6 p.m. Saturday.