Winter Storm Knocks Out Power, Closes Schools, Delays Pickups

WINNETKA, 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 in Wilmette and Northfield with about 1,000 households without power, 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.)

In Winnetka, two outage events affected four residential customers when a tree and a large section of a tree fell on overhead conductor in. All power was restored by 8:15 a.m. and crews have also responded to trees falling on overhead utilities, many of which have turned out to be overhead wires owned by Comcast and AT&T, according to Brian Keys, the village's water and electric director.

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.

Advanced Disposal, Lakeshore Recycling Services and Waste Management have suspended all refuse and recycling services for Monday. In Wilmette, Winnetka and Northfield, pickups will be delayed by one day for the rest of the week. In Glencoe, Monday and Tuesday pickups will take place a day late, with Thursday and Friday collections proceeding as normal.

Many suburban schools also announced closures Monday. Here's the list of closed facilities in Glencoe, Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka:

• Avoca Community Preschool: Closed
• Baker Demonstration School: Closed
• Chicago Botanic Garden: Opens 10 a.m.
• Central School: Closed
• Crow Island: Closed
• French School: Closed
• Glencoe Public Library: Opens 1 p.m.
• Greeley School: Closed
• Highcrest Middle School: Closed
• Hubbard Woods: Closed
• Joseph Sears School: Closed
• Loyola Academy: Closed
• Marie Murphy School: Closed
• McKenzie School: Closed
• Northfield Community Nursery School: Closed
• North Shore Country Day School: Closed
• Romona School: Closed
• Sacred Heart School: Closed
• Skokie School: Closed
• St. Francis Xavier School: Closed
• St. Joseph School: Closed
• Washburne School: Closed
• Wilmette Junior High School: Closed
• (School districts 29, 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 203)