‘Slow and slippery’ road conditions will improve for Tuesday morning commute after snow hits city

After snow created slippery road conditions Monday evening, commuters should expect a smoother drive Tuesday morning as conditions are expected to improve, the National Weather Service said.

Meteorologist Lee Carlaw said that with the snow out of the way, road conditions should be much better, but that commuters should still be cautious of possible ice.

“The greater Chicagoland area is done for right now,” Carlaw said, referring to snow and winds. “We’re not expecting any adverse impacts [on the morning commute], just any liquid on untreated surfaces that might freeze.”

A little more than a quarter of an inch of snow was on the ground Monday night, the NWS said. The next chance for snow will be Friday and Saturday, though Carlaw is not expecting much.

“At this point, it is not looking like a significant snowfall producer,” Carlaw said. “What we like to refer to as conversational snow.”

A winter weather advisory for parts of northeastern Illinois — originally in effect until 4 p.m. Monday but extended to 9 p.m. — covered central and northern Cook County and DuPage County, according to the National Weather Service.

Brett Borchardt, a senior meteorologist with the weather service, said the advisory had been extended because of a band of lake-effect snow in southeast Wisconsin that had been expected to move south along the lakeshore Monday evening.

“We wanted to make sure we had the advisory out [during] the evening commute when there could be snow falling on roads, making for a slippery and slow commute,” Borchardt said.

The counties under advisory were all expected to see some snowfall with the highest totals — about 1 to 2 inches — expected closer to Lake Michigan, though totals didn’t reach anywhere close to that in the city, according to the weather service. Temperatures were expected to slip into the high teens Monday night causing the small amount of precipitation to stick to surfaces.

“Anything that’s untreated, whether that’s a roadway, a sidewalk or a parking lot, that’s going to be pretty slick,” Borchardt said.

A Jeep and Mount Prospect Park District school bus carrying 51 students and seven adult administrators collided shortly before noon Monday on I-290 eastbound near I-390 in Itasca, according to the Illinois State Police. One of the adult school bus passengers was taken to a nearby hospital after the crash; no other injuries were reported.

Slippery conditions also caused a temporary ground stop at O’Hare Airport on Monday morning.

About 284 flights were canceled at O’Hare and about 836 flights were delayed as of Monday afternoon, according to FlightAware. At Midway, 39 flights were canceled and 150 flights were delayed.

Borchardt advised commuters to “prepare for slow travel times and be extra careful.”

“Increase your following distance between you and the cars in front of you,” Borchardt said. “Give road crews as much space as we can as they’re cleaning the roads.”

“Just take it slow out there.”