First came the big chill, then the big dig, and now officials are warning Chicagoans to prepare for the big melt. With temperatures on the rise, the snow that’s accumulated over the past three weeks is about to turn into a river. 

This week’s killer freeze in the U.S. was no surprise. Government and private meteorologists saw it coming, some nearly three weeks in advance. And yet catastrophe happened. At least 20 people have died and 4 million homes at some point lost power, heat or water.

A collective groan may or may not have been heard around Chicago when the city awoke to find it was snowing — again. Geoffrey Baer explains how this recent blast of snowy weather stacks up against Chicago’s most infamous winter storms.

A Chicago man allegedly pushed a woman out of her vehicle as he was attempting to escape during a carjacking before getting stuck in the heavy snowfall that blanketed the city Tuesday morning.

If winter 2021 feels epic, that’s because it has been. According to the National Weather Service, it’s been 40 years since Chicago has seen so much snow in such a short span of time.

Thousands of preschool and special education students will resume in-person learning Wednesday, a day after all Chicago Public Schools students worked from home following a mammoth snowfall across the city.

As Chicago digs out from yet another major snowfall, with accumulation piling on top of previous storm totals, the Department of Streets and Sanitation is activating its plan to relocate snow to pre-determined sites. Plows could shift to residential streets Tuesday evening, officials said. 

Snow dampens other sounds, but it makes plenty of noise itself, especially in colder temperatures. Here’s why. 

O’Hare Airport officially notched 7.5 inches of snow but some Chicago neighborhoods got socked with more than twice that amount in the past 24 hours. 

On Monday, officials announced all city-run coronavirus testing sites will be closed Tuesday due to the weather. The sites have been closed since Friday in observance of Lincoln’s Birthday and Presidents Day.

As a winter storm threatens the Chicago area with a foot or more of snow, Chicago Public Schools has announced it will suspend in-person learning for students Tuesday and only expects essential building staff to report to schools.

It’s been 10 years since the infamous Groundhog Day blizzard left hundreds of motorists stranded on Lake Shore Drive. As another major winter storm bears down on Chicago, officials are putting to use lessons learned from that debacle.

While lake effect snow will come and go through Tuesday, the storm system, approaching from the south, is expected to reach Chicago by mid-afternoon Monday, according to the National Weather Service. 

Chicago set a new record for the coldest Feb. 14 in history, with a high temperature of just 4 degrees recorded at O’Hare Airport on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Valentine’s Day in the Chicago area will be a dangerously chilly affair, with all of northern Illinois under a wind chill advisory issued by the National Weather Service.

Dirty snow absorbs more of the sun’s energy and melts faster. Here’s why that’s a problem.