Chicago Weather

More Than 1,300 Flights Canceled Amid Chicago Snowstorm

With a significant winter snowstorm hitting the Chicago area, airlines at both of the city's major airports canceled more than 1,300 flights heading into the weekend. [[456119263, C]]

As of 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, over 1000 flights had been cancelled at O'Hare Airport alone, and the average delay on flights had crept up to nearly an hour, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. 

At Midway, 317 flights have been cancelled due to weather, but airlines are showing delays of less than 15 minutes at the airport. 

Southwest Airlines preemptively canceled nearly 350 flights at Midway Thursday morning.  

The CDA said in a statement Thursday that it prepared "a robust snow removal effort with our airline partners as well as the FAA. Our top goal is to keep our runways safe and dry, and to minimize the impact of weather conditions on operations at O'Hare and Midway International Airports. [[473399023, C]]

It also encouraged travelers to "contact the airlines on flight status ahead of time, and to arrive early before their scheduled flights." To accommodate customers, several airlines were waiving change fees for flights in and out of the city and across the Midwest. 

A Winter Storm Warning was issued for the entire Chicago area and northwest Indiana Thursday and continues through Friday at 6 p.m. 

The exclamation point on a week of wintry weather could leave more than a foot of accumulation total across some parts of the region by Sunday.  

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