Chicago recorded its second-heaviest snowfall during a single storm in November on Saturday as a burst of winter weather slammed the Midwest, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and others to be delayed.
Saturday’s snowfall of 11.2 inches recorded Friday and Saturday was beat only by a snowstorm ending on Nov. 26 in 1895 that saw 12 inches of snow fall, the National Weather Service said.
Other parts of the Midwest were hit harder. The city of Tea in South Dakota, southeast of Sioux Falls, saw 18 inches; 16 inches were recorded near Bloomfield, Nebraska; Grayslake, Illinois, north of Chicago, got 16 inches of snow, according to the Weather Channel.
In Delaware County, Indiana, a car crash that killed a 17-year-old passenger Saturday was blamed on slick roads from the weather, NBC affiliate WTHR reported.
The Waukesha County, Wisconsin, sheriff’s office reported that there were more than 60 accidents and 55 vehicles that went into ditches on Saturday, NBC affiliate TMJ reported. In Milwaukee County, there were more than 40 crashes and reports of around 30 disabled vehicles, according to the station.
The snow storm over the Chicago area began winding down by 9 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET), according to The Weather Channel.
But nearly 400 departing flights were cancelled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport by Saturday night, and an equal number of arriving flights were also cancelled. About 200 flights had been cancelled in and out of Chicago's Midway International Airport, according to FlightAware.com.
The storm is expected to pick up lake effect snow as it moves east. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday warned of winds of between 25 and 40 mph, and of guts up to 60 mph, in parts of western and central New York. Up to a foot of snow could fall on Chautauqua County, east of Erie, Pennsylvania, Cuomo said.
In Capron, Illinois, about 60 miles northwest of Chicago, village employee Robert Lukes was clearing sidewalks Saturday after more than a foot of snow fell.
"It's a typical first snow for us, but it's a pain in the butt. There's quite a bit of it and it's kind of difficult plowing and snowblowing," he told The Associated Press, adding, "It's just another snowstorm in northern Illinois."
