Blizzard Closes Schools, Knocks Out Power In Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The first blizzard of winter has coated Chicago area roadways with several inches of snow Monday, cut off power to thousands of homes and closed dozens of schools.

The far north and northwest suburbs appeared to be the hardest hit with close to a foot of snow, as a winter storm warning was lifted on Cook, DuPage, Grundy and Will counties at 9 a.m.

The highest levels of snowfall reported by the National Weather Service were in Woodstock, with 11.5 inches, Marengo, with 10.9 inches, and Harvard, with 9 inches. In Lindenhurst, 9 inches was reported and 8.3 inches snow fell in Mount Prospect. Hawthorn Woods got 7.8 inches of snow. Evanston recorded just 3 inches of snow.

O'Hare International Airport, where more than 400 flights were canceled, recorded 7.4 inches of snow, with the majority falling after midnight. Midway International Airport had about 5 inches as of 9 a.m., according to NWS snowfall reports.

As of 11:30 a.m., there were several dozen electricity outages with more than 1,200 households without power in Highland Park and Highwood, according to ComEd's outage map. (Residents can report an outage by calling the utility at 800-334-7661 or by texting "OUT" to 26633.)

Lakeshore Recycling Services suspended all refuse and recycling services for Monday. Pickups will be delayed by one day for the rest of the week.

There have also been major delays on Metra's Union Pacific-North line resulting from a downed tree and power line in Lake Forest, according to alerts from the railroad.

Many suburban schools also announced closures Monday. Here's the list of closed facilities in Highland Park:

• North Shore Special Education District Programs: Closed
• North Shore Academy: Closed
• Arlyn School: Closed
• Braeside School: Closed
• Edgewood Middle School: Closed
• Green Bay School: Closed
• Highland Park High School: Closed
• Indian Trail School: Closed
• North Shore School of Dance: Opens 3 p.m.
• Ravinia School: Closed
• Red Oak School: Closed
• Sherwood School: Closed
• Wayne Thomas School: Closed
• (School districts 112, 113)