Snow and freezing rain combined to create difficult travel conditions Sunday throughout much of the Chicago area.
Police said there were numerous crashes, though no serious injuries were reported. The storm also affected operations at all three Chicago airports.
A Buffalo Grove woman was reported in good condition at Highland Park Hospital, in Highland Park, after she lost control of her car, which skidded off the Edens Expressway just south of the Tower Road exit.
Stephanie Yesulis, 19, suffered bruises and was being examined for a possible pelvic fracture, according to a hospital official.
The first onslaught was sleet and freezing rain, which coated streets with an icy glaze by late afternoon, and that was followed by snow. Although the storm sent hundreds of state and city salt trucks into action, most streets, especially side streets, became icy and hazardous, police said.
The Illinois Department of Transportation and the state tollway authority dispatched 420 trucks about noon to cover highways and expressways in the area, and the city`s Department of Streets and Sanitation had 221 trucks out by 3:30 p.m.
”The roads are real bad,” said Kirsten Svare, a spokeswoman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation. ”We are concentrating on the main roads.”
Flights at O`Hare International Airport began experiencing delays of 30 minutes to an hour after 4 p.m., and Meigs Field was shut down in the afternoon, according to police and Federal Aviation Administration spokesmen. Flights were delayed 30 to 60 minutes at Midway Airport, and some flights were diverted to other airports.
The Central Weather Service predicted that the storm will have dropped 4 to 5 inches of snow on the Chicago area by morning.
