Steady Chicago snow causing cancellations, delays
14 February 2008Steady snow has been falling on the city of Chicago this week, causing widespread flight cancellations and delays.
Weather systems moving through Chicago and North America's east coast led to the cancellation of some 450 flights at O'Hare international airport on February 12th, leaving many people relying on their travel insurance to cover resulting costs.
Delays out of O'Hare averaged around 15 minutes, while Midway international airport saw around 15 cancellations and average delays of 45 minutes, said Gregg Cunningham, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Forecasts indicated that there could be further snowfall on the mornings of February 14th and 15th, but these flurries were not expected to be as heavy as the conditions recorded earlier in the week.
The snow led to the mobilisation of Chicago's full fleet of 273 snow-clearing trucks, which set about clearing some of the city's main routes and roadways.
Wind chill levels fell to well below zero at points during the week, while temperatures hit a low of around eight degrees celsius.