Early morning snow slowed traffic and delayed inbound flights to Chicago as plows tackled one of the area's first snowfalls of the season.
Though the light to moderate snow tapered to flurries by 6:30 a.m., another 1 to 2 inches was left behind Monday morning. That brought traffic to a stand-still in some spots on Chicago tollroads, and as of 7:30 a.m., at least 25 crashes were reported. At O'Hare International Airport, some flights were delayed an average of an hour and 32 minutes.
The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation deployed its full fleet of 284 snow plows onto main routes and Lake Shore Drive.
"As the snow continues to lessen, we can pull away from the main [roadways] then we'll go into the side streets," Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams said.
In total, an average of 2.6 inches fell area-wide. Rockford saw the most snow with 3.5 inches followed by Belvidere with 3.3, Elgin with 3, North Huntley with 2.9, Elk Grove Village with 2.8 and Inverness with 2.6.
Meanwhile a Winter Weather Advisory expired at noon along I-88 and remained in place until 6 p.m. in northwest Indiana. The rest of the day looks cloudy and cold with a few flurries and highs in the low- to mid-20s.
Over the weekend, the area was hit with several inches beginning with a half-inch of snow on Friday. Saturday's system left behind 1.8 inches and Sunday's snow left another half-inch, totaling in three days the amount of snow Chicago has seen all winter.
Moving ahead into the week, snow returns to the forecast on Tuesday with up to an inch possible.
Wednesday looks partly sunny and seasonably cold with highs in the lower 30s, then a combination of rain, sleet and snow moves in for Thursday.
