Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Massive snowstorm closes schools in Chicago, some suburbs

Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren across the Chicago area will stay home from school Monday after Sunday's snowstorm dropped more than a foot of snow. Chicago Public Schools on Sunday evening announced its third weather-related closing this year.
The district with nearly 400,000 students alsoi closed two days last month due to cold weather. Also closing Monday are several suburban school districts, including School District U-46 in the northwest suburbs and Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202.
The year's first major winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds. Numerous area attractions are closed, more than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Chicago's airports and snow-covered roads are making travel treacherous.
A blizzard warning went into effect Sunday morning, about three hours earlier than initially forecast, the National Weather Service said. The storm is dumping about an inch of snow per hour across the area, which may see 10 to 16 inches of snow or more before the storm is over.
The area could experience more than 12 straight hours of blizzard conditions – strong winds, heavy snow, low visibility and very difficult, possibly dangerous travel, the agency said.
"It's still intensifying and it's going to be snowing for several hours," National Weather Service meteorologist Ricky Castro said about 3 p.m. Sunday. "There could be lake effect (snow) lingering, but it could keep the snow going even into the early morning hours, maybe the beginning of the morning commute will have snow falling downtown."

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