If you're flying out of O'Hare or Midway International Airports later this week, you might want to consider changing your flight, experts say, as a strong and potentially dangerous storm system heading towards the Midwest is set to bring bitterly cold temperatures, "blizzard conditions" and wind gusts in excess of 50 miles-per-hour to the Chicago area later this week.
"I would be proactive," said travel influencer John DiScala, who runs the travel website Johnny Jet. "Get on it now; save yourself a miserable experience. Stay warm. Stay home or in your hotel, then travel."
According to the Chicago Department of Aviation, approximately 2.9 million travelers are expected to pass through O'Hare and Midway International Airports between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2.
"We have 500 staff members who are ready to work 24/7, and 350 pieces of snow removing equipment," said Karen Pride, a spokesperson for the CDA said. "Lots of salt and lots of de-icer for the roadways. The airlines are prepared to de-ice their aircraft."
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While airport preparations are underway, Chicago's late-week forecast is looking grim. The snowstorm, set to begin Thursday evening, is likely to bring possible blizzard conditions and some wind gusts exceeding 50 miles-per-hour, the NBC 5 Storm Team says.
According to a weather alert from the National Weather Service, the entire Chicago area -- including the counties of Cook, McHenry, Lake, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, LaSalle, Kendall, Grundy and Kankakee, along with Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper in Indiana -- is under a Winter Storm Watch Thursday evening through late Friday night.
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As a result, travel will be "extremely difficult, if not impossible" due to potential "white-out conditions," leaving visibility levels at or near zero, according to the National Weather Service.
Power outages as a result of the strong, damaging winds may also be possible, the alert goes on to say.
For airline travelers, that means flight delays and cancellations could leave passengers stranded, and scrambling to find new tickets and a way home.
"If you go to the airport and the flight keeps getting delayed and then canceled, all those seats that were going to be taken for a few days later are going to be gone," DiScala said.
As of Monday night, several major carriers offered changes to certain itineraries for no fee. Here's a breakdown:
- American Airlines: No change fee for scheduled flights between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23
- Southwest Airlines: No change fee for scheduled flights between Dec. 21 and Dec. 23
- United Airlines: No change fee for scheduled flights between Dec 22 and Dec. 25
"If [airlines] are offering you a travel waiver where they will change your ticket for free, no charge, and put you on a couple of days later after the storm, get on it now while there are still seats available, if there are still seats available" DiScala said.
What to Know If You're Driving This Week
Driving may not provide much relief, especially as canceled flights may put more motorists on the road.
AAA expects 113 million Americans -- 5.8 million in Illinois alone -- to travel 50 miles or more between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, but with several inches of snow, bone-chilling cold and high winds expected, roadways in the Midwest could be heavily-impacted.
According to the National Weather Service, Thursday evening through Friday is predicted to be the worst day to hit the road, with possible blizzard conditions making travel "difficult to impossible."
During the 11-day holiday period, AAA expects to rescue 899,000 stranded motorists. Make sure you have an emergency kit in your car, including jumper cables, a first-aid kit, a portable phone charger, an ice scraper, extra warm clothes along with water and snacks, AAA recommends.
And while the snow isn't expected to continue all weekend, dangerously cold temperatures are expected to remain, thanks to bitterly cold temperatures and even lower wind chill readings. According to the NWS, cold temperatures could lead to ice on rivers, with an increasing threat of flooding caused by river ice jams.
