Quick Drop to 0 Degrees in Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Whether you are driving, riding the bus, taking the train or hailing a cab, it's a must to bundle up and leave plenty of extra time to get to work, with snow on the ground and temperatures 40 to 50 degrees lower than they were 24 hours ago.

 
As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, any way you slice it, it is ugly outside as winter makes its presence felt again.

 
At this time on Tuesday morning, you could walk out the door with a light jacket and feel perfectly comfortable. Temperatures ranged from 47 to 50 degrees – conditions more befitting of late March or early April.

 
But as predicted, in blew a winter storm that began with whipping, blowing snow, followed by a drop of nearly 50 degrees in a matter of hours.

 
By early morning, the snow had moved on to western Michigan, but the cold, combined with the snow and ice already on the ground, made for misery on the roads.

 
CBS 2 Meteorologist Don Schwenneker reported the temperature at 5 a.m. was -1 at O'Hare International Airport, 0 and Midway International Airport, and 3 degrees downtown. But the wind chills brought misery, not to mention danger, with -24 at O'Hare, -22 at Midway, and in Aurora, -26.

 
A blowing snow advisory and a wind chill warning are in effect until noon Wednesday.

 
Sunshine is expected later in the day, but across the area, temperatures are not expected to climb out of the teens.

 
Meanwhile, the aftermath of the snowstorm is causing a maelstrom of trouble.

 
Thirteen hundred ComEd customers were without power as of the 5 a.m. hour. Of those, 200 were in Chicago, 200 in the western suburbs, and 900 in the south suburbs. Earlier in the morning, 8,000 customers were without power.

 
At the airports, it is also a real mess, with 350 flights canceled and delays running about 90 minutes at O'Hare. Meanwhile at Midway, delays are averaging about 30 minutes and a dozen flights have been canceled.