Rain Creates Messy Morning Commute

Rain rolled into the Chicago area early Friday morning, making for a challenging morning commute.

At 5 a.m., the entire metropolitan area was under a system that was producing moderate to heavy rainfall in areas. A rain guage at the Adler Planetarium recorded 0.87 inches of rain as of 5 a.m., with the rain still coming down.

The system lingered through the morning commute and caused delays on Metra's Union Pacific / Northwest line, where downed power lines halted trains.

As the morning hours continud, southerly winds shifted to the west-northwest, bringing much cooler air. Forecast models showed temperatures around 60 degrees by midday and falling fo the mid- to upper 40s in the late-night hours.

Hours ahead of the system, the threat of severe storms prompted massive cancellations at Chicago's airports. More than 540 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport and around 300 flights were canceled at Midway as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Delays of up to 35 minutes were reported at O'Hare, and 30 minutes at Midway.

Southwest Airlines canceled all incoming and outgoing flights after noon Thursday. Airlines at the two airports are still recovering after a fire last week at an FAA facility that grounded all Chicago flights.

Southwest officials said schedules will be back to normal on Friday.

Cleveland residents Margaret Armao and her husband were stranded at O'Hare Thursday night. They planned to spend the weekend at a Navy reunion in Missouri, but after several delays and cancellations, they're giving up.

"We're going home. Just got another flight back home to Cleveland," Armao said.

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