Air travel in Chicago slowly returned to normal Monday after dense fog early in the day forced airlines to delay and cancel hundreds of flights.
Most flights experienced delays of less than 15 minutes by Monday evening.
”We`re backed up, but we`re trying to catch up,” said Joe Stroop, a spokesman for American Airlines. He said flights from O`Hare International Airport were delayed up to an hour Monday afternoon as the carrier caught up on the back-up caused by 75 morning cancellations. The airline also diverted 21 incoming planes to other cities in the region, including Milwaukee and Cincinnati, Stroop said.
The fog, created by a combination of warming temperatures and the snow cover, limited visibility at 4 p.m. Monday to a quarter of a mile at O`Hare, to zero at Meigs Field and to three-eighths of a mile at Midway Airport, according to the Central Weather Service. The weather service predicted fog would remain in the area through Thursday.
Temperatures gradually rose throughout Monday. O`Hare reported a high of 36 degrees at 4 p.m. before temperatures began falling gradually through the night.
Despite the fog, Monday`s rush hour was generally trouble-free, police said.
On the West Coast, flash flood watches were in effect for northern and central California, where up to a foot of rain has drenched the area since last week. The area can expect up to 6 more inches of rain in the next two days, according to the Central Weather Service.
Winter storm warnings have been posted for the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada in California and the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon, where up to 2 feet of snow by Tuesday was forecast.
On the East Coast, freezing rain snarled traffic from New England to Washington.
Unseasonably warm temperatures prevailed over the southern Atlantic states, the lower Mississippi Valley and the southern Plains, with afternoon readings in the 60s and 70s and into the 80s over the lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas.
Cape Hatteras, N.C., had a record high for hte date of 72, and Port Arthur, Texas, tied its record of 78.
Like American, United Airlines was backed up Monday afternoon in Chicago but had canceled no more flights, spokesman Joe Hopkins said. Monday morning, United scrubbed 60 incoming flights and 60 departing flights at O`Hare and diverted some inbound planes to Milwaukee, Cleveland, Louisville and Cincinnati, Hopkins said.
At Meigs Field, on the city`s lakefront, only one helicopter had departed since the airport opened at 6 a.m. Monday, said Bill Qualiardi, an air traffic controller. He said the airport remained open for emergency flights.
The weather was blamed for the death Sunday night of a 44-year-old Elk Grove Village man. Floyd Whitford, of the 500 block of Northport Drive, died after he collapsed while operating a snow blower in front of a neighbor`s home, said Sgt. Ken Krzywicki of the Elk Grove Village Police Department. Whitford was seen by a passing motorist, who called police, Krzywicki said.
The cause of death was not determined, Krzywicki said.
Temperatures Thursday are expected reach the upper 30s, according to the weather service. The day is expected to be cloudy with dense fog and occasional drizzle and freezing rain.
