Phoenix is freezing!!!!!

Source

WM Phoenix Open: Wednesday's events canceled, Thursday's first round could be affected

Feb. 2, 2011 12:30 PM

The Arizona Republic

The cold weather has shut down the events at the TPC Scottsdale, canceling a pro-am and a closest to the pin contest, due to what officials are calling a frozen golf course.

But the real impact may still be yet to come. The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for 11 p.m. Wednesday from 10 a.m. Thursday.

Tour officials are concerned with maintaining the course in optimal conditions for the tournament. The ground is cold and hard and playing on it could damage the turf and have an impact on the four-day event.

Slugger White, PGA Tour Vice President of Rules and Competition, said at noon "the greens are still frozen, the approaches are frozen and it would do a tremendous amount of damage."

White was asked about whether it's possible the first round could be canceled.

"I think there's a possibility," he said. "I don't want to step out there too far. Obviously we try to play whenever we could.

"It's a forecast, who knows? Anything could happen but it doesn't look good tomorrow (Thursday) morning. It's supposed to be colder and it might even be colder on Friday."

Tournament officials say fans are still welcome to come to the course. There will be no charge at the gates Wednesday and all used general admission Wednesday-specific tickets can be exchanged for a Good Any Day ticket.

The popular Coors Light Birds Nest entertainment venue is still on schedule. Gates open at 3:30 p.m. and officials say there will be plenty of indoor and outdoor heating. Duck Soup and Doobie Brothers are the musical acts.

Wednesday's FBR/Xerox Silver Pro-Am, originally scheduled for 8:30 a.m., was pushed back to 9 a.m. and then again to 10 a.m. It was then moved to noon and cut to nine holes before finally being called off altogether.

The Shot at Glory at 16th hole, a closest-to-the-pin contest on the famed 16th hole, was also canceled, as was Wednedsday's Grayhawk Pro-Am.

At a little after 11 a.m., a PGA Tour official announced that the course driving range and practice green at TPC Scottsdale was also being closed, essentially ending any chance of activity on the Stadium Course.

"I can't (recall it happening anywhere)," White said. "Obviously we have frost delays before but usually that's an hour or so. We didn't have frost. We have 20-30 mph winds with a wind-chill factor of about 30 right now. It's supposed to get up to like 39. It may thaw out later on and we can get some work done on the course. I don't ever remember stopping a full day for frozen greens."

Fans will still have something to do later in the day. At 3:30 p.m., the Coors Light Birds Nest entertainment tent opens. The headlining act will be the Doobie Brothers, who take the stage at 8 p.m.

Tournament officials say this is the first time the Wednesday events were called off. In 2008, rain wiped out a Monday pro-am tournament.

Cold weather causes rolling power blackouts!

by Karen Schmidt - Feb. 2, 2011 09:50 AM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Power was disrupted for up to 65,000 Valley SRP customers early Wednesday after two of the company's power plants in northeast Arizona shut down, according to company officials.

Power was restored to most by about 7:15 a.m. About 2,000 customers remain without power at mid-morning.

Service at the coal-burning plants, one unit in Springerville and two at the Navajo Generating Station in Page, was interrupted apparently because of the cold weather and possibly heavy winds.

The loss of the coal-burning plants meant there was not enough power coming into the Valley. SRP shut down power to groups of customers for about an hour so the system would not get overwhelmed, said Patty Garcia-Likens, an SRP representative.

The planned outages rotated among different areas, so power was restored in one area and lost in another.

"This is something that's never happened before but something we certainly planned for," Garcia-Likens said.

Phoenix cold weather sucks!!!!

Phoenix area under freeze warning again for tonight

by Stephanie Johnson - Feb. 2, 2011 10:31 AM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

The Phoenix area is expected to have another freeze warning Wednesday night as chilling temperatures continue into early Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for 11 p.m. Wednesday from 10 a.m. Thursday.

The freeze warning is in effect for areas that include metro Phoenix, Gila Bend, Buckeye, Coolidge and Casa Grande.

Temperatures could fall into the teens in some outlying areas. Winds are expected to reach just 5 mph, far lower than the gusty, chilling breezes Wednesday morning, according to the weather service.

Wednesday afternoon's high temperature is expected to reach the high 40s. Thursday's high is expected to reach the mid 50s with clear skies and a night-time low around 30 degrees and slightly breezy.

Clear skies and sunshine continue into Friday and Saturday.

Friday's forecast is expected to reach a day-time high in the mid-50s with an evening low of 36 degrees.

Saturday's temperatures are expected to warm up with a day-time high of 67 degrees and a night-time in the 40s.

Valley residents are advised to cover their plants and protect their pets.

It's cold all over the USA!

Massive storm paralyzes cities as it rolls east

Harsh weather shuts airports, interstates, chills Super Bowl fun

by Michael Tarm - Feb. 2, 2011 12:20 PM

Associated Press

CHICAGO - A massive storm billed as the worst in decades barreled into the Northeast on Wednesday, paralyzing big cities and small towns alike with deep snow and thick ice, stranding hundreds of motorists and shuttering airports and schools across the Midwest.

The 20.2 inches of snow that fell by midday in Chicago made the storm the city's third-largest on record, with still more coming down. A foot or more was dumped on parts of Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and upstate New York.

New York City was expected to get up to three-quarters of an inch of ice before the mix of sleet and freezing rain warms up to rain.

The storm was, if not unprecedented, extraordinarily rare, National Weather Service meteorologist Thomas Spriggs said.

"A storm that produces a swath of 20-inch snow is really something we'd see once every 50 years -- maybe," Spriggs said.

Forecasters warned ice accumulations would knock down some tree limbs and power lines across the storm's more than 2,000-mile path. Multiple roof and structure collapses, but no injuries, were reported in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts early Wednesday.

Ice also stalled local and regional transit, with Amtrak suspending service from New York City to Philadelphia because of power problems.

In upstate New York, Mike Schumaker was into the fourth hour of what he predicted would be a 24-hour plowing marathon as he cleared snow from a suburban Albany gas station around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

"It's not so much about plowing as it is about where to put it," said the 42-year-old private contractor from Latham. "We still have snow from Christmas that hasn't melted."

Chicago closed its public schools for the first time in 12 years and shut down Lake Shore Drive, where hundreds of motorists were stranded for 12 hours after multiple car accidents on the iconic roadway.

On Wednesday morning, Lake Shore Drive looked like rush hour had been stopped in time. Three lanes of cars cluttered the road with snow reaching as high as the windshields. Some cars were almost completely buried. Others filled with snow that engulfed dashboards and steering wheels after doors were left ajar.

Bulldozers worked to clear the snow from around the cars before tow trucks plucked them out of snow drifts one by one. The operation likely would take hours: At least 1,500 cars awaited rescue.

Lindsey Wilson, 26, said that after sitting for hours on a stranded city bus, she joined other passengers who tried to walk off the road. She made it about 100 feet before she couldn't see anything around her, including the bus she'd just left.

Fearing she would be swallowed by mounting snowdrifts, Wilson turned back and spent the night on the bus.

"I thought if I fall over, what would happen if I got buried under a pile of snow?" she said.

Raymond Orozco, chief of staff to Mayor Richard Daley, said motorist rescue efforts had been "severely hampered" by snow drifts, high winds and white-out conditions.

Not only was driving dicey, but flying in and out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport -- a major U.S. hub -- won't be possible until Thursday. The decision by O'Hare-based airlines to cancel all their flights for a day and a half was certain to have ripple effects.

"Effectively shutting down America's most important aviation hub hits the system immeasurably hard," said transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman.

The city's smaller airport, Midway, also abandoned hopes of resuming flights until Thursday. Boston's Logan Airport closed briefly Wednesday as well.

More than 5,500 flights in or out of the U.S. were canceled as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Most were scratched well in advance of the fast moving storm.

"It's winter. It should have snow and ice. It's the way it is," said Vincent Zuza of Chatham, N.J., who was waiting for a flight to Salt Lake City for a ski trip after his first flight was canceled Wednesday. "You can't get too upset about it, and you can't control it. You just have to make the best of it."

More than 200,000 homes and businesses in Ohio began Wednesday without power, while in excess of 100,000 customers had no electricity in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which were hit with mostly freezing rain and ice.

Rolling blackouts were implemented across Texas, including in Super Bowl host city Dallas, due to high demand during a rare ice storm.

The outages would not affect Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington, said Jeamy Molina, a spokeswoman for utility provider Oncor. But other Super Bowl facilities, such as team hotels, were not exempt, she said.

Outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a crew preparing to clear ice from sidewalks sat in their van warming up before sunrise Wednesday.

One complained that getting to work -- even for him -- had been treacherous.

"Walking was terrible," said Rob Jones, 20, of Cenova Snow & Ice Solutions "I slid all the way down my street."

At least two weather-related deaths were reported in New York, including a traffic fatality and a homeless man on Long Island who, police said, had burned to death as he tried to light cans of cooking fuel while sheltering behind a food market.

A 20-year-old woman died in Oklahoma City while being pulled behind a truck on a sled that hit a metal guard rail. A Michigan man died when his pickup truck rolled over several times on an icy highway and a Wisconsin man died while shoveling snow.

In Oklahoma, rescue crews and the National Guard searched overnight for any motorists who were stranded along its major highways after whiteouts shut down Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

For those who insisted on braving the elements, the risks were many. "If you don't have enough fuel in your vehicle, you can run out, the heat goes out -- and people can even freeze to death," said Greg Cohen, executive director of the Roadway Safety Foundation.

Cities across middle America had shut down hours ahead of the snow. Scores of schools, colleges and government offices canceled activities or decided not to open at all.

Even Chicago -- with its legions of snowplows and its usual confidence in the face of winter storms that would surely crush other cities -- bent under the storm's weight.

"This is nothing to play with here," said Edward Butler, a lakefront doorman peering through his building's glass doors at snow blowing horizontally and in small cyclones down the street. "This is gale force wind."

Many businesses planned to remain closed Wednesday, as did cultural attractions and universities.

At least three Missouri newspapers made their online editions available for free to all customers, saying weather conditions made it too dangerous to deliver print editions. The Joplin Globe, The Carthage Press and The Sedalia Democrat posted notes on their websites explaining the change.

The Tulsa World in Oklahoma did not deliver a print edition for the first time in more than a century.

Analysts said despite the immediate headaches, the storms were likely to slow the U.S. economy only modestly.

"Annoying as it all is, the effect on (growth) is going to be on the smaller side," said David Resler, chief U.S. economist at Nomura Global Economics.

Providing a ray of hope to those battered by the storm, the world's most famous weather forecaster -- with four legs -- predicted an early spring.

Punxsutawney Phil's handlers told Groundhog Day revelers at Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney, Pa., that the groundhog had not seen his shadow, meaning winter will end within six weeks, according to tradition.

Chicago makes cold Phoenix weather look like Hawaii!

Snow hits home: Big companies, malls closed

By Tribune staff report

Posted today at 4:10 p.m.

Click here for photos of the 2011 Chicago blizzard

One of the biggest snowstorms in Chicago history has paralyzed businesses across the region.

The blizzard, which dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Chicago area Tuesday night and Wednesday, will have a significant economic impact, as banks, retailers and other companies that rely on face-to-face contact with their customers were closed Wednesday or struggling to open.

DOWNTOWN

Downtown businesses were mostly abandoned Wednesday morning.

One of the only lights emanating from the Thompson Center came from the Dunkin’ Donuts. The newsstand, the salon, the nail parlor, which usually bustle with commuters from the Clark/Lake stop, were closed and darkened.

Olivia Aguilar, the lone worker at the Dunkin’ Donuts -– open since 5:30 a.m. –- said she too would have to close soon because she was running out of change and the banks were closed. Still, she said, she’d had a steady stream of customers: security guards, CTA workers and stalwart employees from businesses downtown.

“One of the managers from the other Dunkin’ Donuts was like, ‘Are you able to spare any food because we help each other out when we’re running out,’ ” she said. “But I really can’t.”

At about 11 a.m., a downtown rental car company saw its first customer since opening at 6:30 a.m.

Peter Lacey, director of sales for Hunter Amenities, swept in from the cold downtown to return his SUV a day late. Lacey said he was in town from Toronto for several meetings with Midwest hotel chains (his company sells the soap used in guest rooms) and couldn’t get the car back in time because of the blizzard and had trouble finding the rental company this morning in the snow.

“My GPS is going berserk,” he said.

The manager, who himself had commuted in on I-290 from Forest Park at about 20 mph in his SUV, waived the $50 late fee because of the blizzard.

“Everything is closed,” the manager said. “Even the McDonald’s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that McDonald’s close.”

Macy’s opened its State Street flagship at 10 a.m. and its Water Tower Place store at 11 a.m. The suburban Macy’s stores are closed, said Andrea Schwartz, Midwest spokeswoman for the New York-based retailer.

Walgreens corporate headquarters shut down at 2 p.m. Tuesday and remained closed on Wednesday. The drug stores, however, are open, said Tiffani Washington, spokeswoman for the Deerfield-based company.

GROCERS AND MALLS

Dominick’s reported only one of its 79 area stores closed Wednesday, at 1340 S. Canal. Spokeswoman Wynona Redmond said the company’s Oak Brook headquarters are open, but most employees are working from home.

Jewel-Osco had not planned to close any stores but hazardous weather conditions forced the company to close all of its Chicago-area supermarkets by 10 p.m. Tuesday. Two remained closed Wednesday afternoon, said a spokeswoman said. Of the chain’s 183 stores in Illinois, Iowa and Northwest Indiana, she added, 20 of are currently closed.

Shopping mall owners decided to close for the day to protect their employees as well as retail workers. General Growth Properties Inc., owner of four Chicago area malls including Water Tower Place, had planned to open its shopping malls at noon, but changed its mind last night as it became clear the blizzard would make traveling hazardous, said spokesman David Keating.

Every Westfield shopping center in the Chicago area announced via Facebook that they were closed Wednesday. Gurnee Mills also shut down.

Sears at Chicago Ridge mall is scheduled to open at noon and remain open until 5 p.m. According to the mall’s Facebook page, the Sears entrances will be the only ones that will be be open at the mall. Snowblowers and shovels are at the northeast entrance, in case shoppers were wondering.

Sears said 49 Sears and Kmart stores across the Midwest and South didn’t open and another 62 opened late.

Nine of the 70 Target stores in the Chicago area didn’t open Wednesday, according to the Minneapolis-based discount retailer: Wheeling, Palatine, Algonquin, Rockford, Gurnee, West Dundee, Lake Zurich, Waukegan and Highland Park.

Orland Square closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday and plans to reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday.

In Schaumburg near Woodfield Mall, no stores appeared to be open Wednesday, and the parking lots near the mall were unplowed.

BANKS

Other businesses held off making decisions until Wednesday morning. Chase, the Chicago area’s biggest bank, said all of its branches in Chicago, Rockford and northwest Indiana would be closed for the day. The lone exception, it said, was its main branch in Chase Tower, which opened at 11 a.m. and will close at 4 p.m. Bank of America decided at 10:30 a.m. to close all of its Chicago-area branches.

CORPORATE HQs

Many of Chicago’s largest corporations also closed their headquarters, keeping hundreds of thousands of people at home.

Abbott Laboratories shut down its sprawling headquarters campus in Lake County as well as manufacturing plants nearby. Abbott executives could not remember the last time its local operations were shut down, a spokeswoman said.

Kraft Foods Inc. closed its Northfield headquarters as well as its office in Glenview.

Motorola Solutions closed its Schaumburg and Arlington Heights campuses and Motorola Mobility in Libertyville told employees to stay home.

Several large law firms, including Mayer Brown and McDermott Will & Emery, closed their Chicago offices. McDonald’s closed its Oak Brook campus.

Aon spokesman David Prosperi said: “I did a few conference calls from home that I would have done in my office. We did have little kids in the background from one of my colleagues, and colleagues in London asking how much snow we had. Colleagues who I talked to who made it in either live right downtown or stayed overnight nearby.”

MillerCoors spokesman Julian Green said the downtown Chicago-based company decided to close Tuesday afternoon and began making the rounds to employees around 3 p.m. to discuss travel plans and contingencies. Building management prepared for stranded workers spending the night.

However, Green said, all 400 employees made it home, and MillerCoors employees are working remotely Wednesday. “We’re no stranger to snow with having two former headquarter facilities in Golden, Colo., and Milwaukee,” he said. He added that many of the company’s employees are based “in the field” and accustomed to working remotely. Each desk at MillerCoors has a laptop docking station, and employees are issued iPhones.

“While you may not be able to get the beer to the bar today, we’re still in the business of selling beer,” he said. “There’s a lot of thing we need to do to make sure the beer can get from brewery to restaurants or bars besides the delivery truck driving up.”

Green added that the company uses a complex system to ensure that vendors have a supply to last more than a day or two in the event that delivery trucks are held up.

“We may have a couple of days where it may be tough to get around but we’re confident we’ll still be conducting business,” he said.

Farther afield, Champaign-based Jimmy John’s went to great lengths to keep corporate headquarters open Wednesday.

“We had our farm trucks and tractors and team assembled at 4 a.m.,” founder and CEO Jimmy John Liautau said in a statement. “After digging ourselves out we met at the office and dug it out. By 7 a.m. it was cleared and open,” he sadi, adding that the company sent a plow to free stranded workers or pick them up. “All stores are open in Champaign and we didn’t miss a beat.”

It was unclear however, whether any of the Chicago-area restaurants were closed.

Eli’s Cheesecake Co. kept churning out its rich desserts, though at a much-reduced level, because some of its employees camped out with nearby relatives, stayed in company-provided hotel rooms or trudged through the snow.

“We sort of gave people the option, to see who was able to come in,” said Marc Schulman, president of the Northwest Side company. “People living in the suburbs or on side streets could not make it. But we had a pretty good turnout among our bakery associates.

“One associate walked three miles to work, at 6:30 in the morning,” said Schulman. “We’ve seen this before — people have real dedication and commitment to their work.”

About one-third of the day shift made it to work, and the company expects to produce a couple thousand cheesecakes; usually it bakes 10,000 to 12,000 daily.

“We modified what we were doing … we did some packaging,” said Schulman, who arrived at work 5:30 a.m. “We’ll make it up over several days.”

In addition to commuting issues, the company also had to carry out its sanitation work by flashlight in a two-hour power outage.

But Schulman expects the company to be fully operational tomorrow. Its corporate office and its café, which were closed, should be reopened then.

STILL ON THE CLOCK

But a snow day did not necessarily mean a day off from work. The march of business went on for many, thanks to technology.

Fortune Brands closed its Deerfield office but employees working on the company’s quarterly earnings report, due to be released Friday, were working from home, exchanging e-mails and having conference calls, a spokesman said.

“I think I’ll fire up my snowblower on my lunch hour,” said spokesman Clarkson Hine.

Motorola Solutions said more than 6,000 employees have been using its remote access systems. Jeff Stone, co-chair of McDermott Will, said he had conference calls this morning with offices in China and Washington and Italy.

At Lake Forest-based Hospira Inc. executives, working from home, managed to hold a conference call Wednesday morning to talk about its fourth-quarter earnings. The company delayed the release of its earnings by 90 minutes and executives apologized to analysts and investors listening to the call if they hear “dogs barking in the background” or “kids waking up to a snow day.”

CME Group Inc. postponed the opening of floor trading until 10 a.m.

Some businesses took precautions to remain open. The Trump International Hotel & Tower put about 50 of its staffers up overnight, for their safety and to keep the hotel running smoothly, said T. Colm O’Callaghan, its vice president and managing director. The hotel also has several limos for guests because of limited cab service in the city, he said.

Jason Tyler, research operations director for Chicago-based Ariel Investments said Wednesday was “a productive day” for the firm and that employees were told at 5:30 a.m. to work from home. “Our Investment Committee was business as usual,” said Tyler, “although only one member was in the office and everyone else worked remotely…Call and email volume has been light, so the feel of the day is much closer to a weekend from that perspective.”

REALTY OPPORTUNITY

If ever there was a day when the local real estate industry didn’t mind the housing market’s anemic sales pace, it was Wednesday.

Like many businesses, local real estate firms told their agents to work from home. Many already do.

Janet Owen, a real estate agent at Prudential Rubloff Realtors, planned to use the snow day as an opportunity to call clients. “It’s a great day to get caught up with people who would otherwise be in a meeting,” she said. “You can almost get ahead of the game on a day like today.”

Prudential Rubloff’s offices were officially closed Wednesday but Owen’s assistant, Lisa Mayotte, spent 30 minutes on a bus to get from her Wicker Park home to the office. At 11 a.m., it was still just her and one other person in the office. “The lights are low, my door is open and I’m blasting my music,” she said.

No one was picking up the phone at most local title companies, either, which could mean delays on any home closing scheduled for Wednesday.

“Technically, if a buyer doesn’t show up to a closing and the seller does, you could say there would be a penalty,” said Mike Golden, co-owner of @Properties. “These days, people are just happy when people close. I suspect everyone will look at this like an act of God.”

Golden was balancing morning phone calls with looking after his children because his wife, already gone a week on a business trip to Europe, was stranded in London and may be able to fly to New York today but her return to

Chicago is unclear.

Kathe Doremus, a vice president at Inland Bank and Trust, stayed home Wednesday because the bank was closed for the day. At 7 a.m., she received a phone call for her son from Target’s Wheaton store, asking whether he was able to work. Doremus, who’d been up since 5 a.m. and had yet to see a snowplow come down her street, said she didn’t even bother waking him up.

IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS

In Lincoln Square, Kathleen Deeter, assistant manager of Fleet Feet, said she thought it might be worthwhile to open for a few hours. The store sells miniature chains for the soles of boots.

So she walked to work from her home in the North Center neighborhood. The biggest challenged was getting into the store, which was blocked by a snow drift.

Ace Hardware dealer Jeremy Melnick said his employees managed to open all five of his hardware stores by 8 a.m. There aren’t as many shoppers as on Monday and Tuesday, but customers are still coming in, he said. Not only are they stocking up on shovels, salt and firewood, but they are also snapping up plumbing and electrical supplies to tackle home repairs.

Apparently some Chicagoans see a blizzard as an opportunity to get tan.

A Better Tan, one of the few businesses open on Bryn Mawr Avenue in Edgewater, saw a steady stream of customers Wednesday — much to the surprise of owner Allen Reed.

“I thought I’d just be doing a lot of maintenance today,” Reed said. “But I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people asking ‘Are you open,?’

“People want that vitamin D,” Reed said. “It helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder.”

John Reilly, a customer of A Better Tan, emerged from a 10-minute session with a smile. “That felt warm,” he said.

Lincoln Park coffee shop owner Stan Siuta told his staff not to come in Wednesday, thinking business would be dead. He discovered he was wrong about 7 a.m. as he cleared snow from around the shop.

“While I was shoveling, I had people lining up, even before I had coffee made,” said Siuta, owner of Siena by Maria, 2308 N. Clark St.

Business boomed all through the morning, as people who usually go to work stayed in the neighborhood. They chatted about Lake Shore Drive, discussed the lightning the night before, worked remotely — and bought coffee.

So the blizzard was a good thing? “For me, it was.”

According to Jay Heiferman, general manager of AAA Rental in Markham, it filled more than 100 requests for rollaway beds from South Side hospitals, mostly so staff could spend the night.

And the company fielded a spike in calls for — are you ready for this? — spring events, for equipment ranging from folding chairs to Sno-Cone machines.

“People are at home with nothing better to do than think about their weddings and barbecues,” said the Homewood resident. “A day like today also has lots of people connecting with family.”

Heiferman’s business is shuttered, but calls are rolling to employees’ homes.

Still, the storm didn’t keep him or his pals from meeting for breakfast — something they’ve done for 15 years. When they found their usual spot — The Egg & I in Chicago Heights — closed, they moved a half mile south on a near-deserted Dixie Highway to The Skyline, where the coffee pot was on.

“The only vehicles we passed were snow plows.”

RESTAURANT WEEK AND NAVY PIER

Other cancellations: The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau rescheduled tonight’s preview party for Chicago Restaurant Week, which had been expected to draw 500 guests at the Chicago Theatre. The event was moved to Feb. 9.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau rescheduled the preview party for Chicago Restaurant Week, which had been expected to draw 500 guests at the Chicago Theatre tonight for tastings from 15 participant restaurants. The event was moved to Feb. 9.

The bureau, which runs the event, as well as the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier, are both closed today. Navy Pier is also closed Wednesday.

The Wednesday night and Thursday morning performances of Disney on Ice at the United Center have been cancelled.

Ticket holders for the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday show can exchange their tickets at the United Center box office for one of the following performances: 7 p.m. Feb. 3, 9 or 10.

Ticket holders for the February 2 performance who cannot attend on these dates should contact their ticket purchase location for a refund.

Tickets for the 10:30 a.m. show Feb. 3 will be honored at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 9 — no exchange required — or for the performances listed above. If those are not convenient, they similarly can contact their ticket purchase location for a refund.

ONLINE’S ALWAYS OPEN

While brick and mortar stores may take a hit, online shopping numbers are expected to spike. Snowed in people head to the only store that is open -– the Internet, said Brad Wilson, founder of BradsDeals.com.

Traffic to BradsDeals.com spiked 15 percent on Wednesday, with notable upticks in coupon searches for travel deals from sites such as Travelocity and Expedia, Wilson said.

“I think a lot of people are booking trips now to get out of town,” Wilson said.

SNOW EQUIPMENT SALES

Snow blowers are flying out of stores and showrooms in Bolingbrook. The village’s Home Depot and Lowe’s stores were sold out of them by Wednesday morning, and Power Equipment Direct, an online-based store run out of a Bolingbrook warehouse, was nearly depleted from its stash of more than 1,000.

According to the company’s website on Wednesday afternoon, 24 snow blowers were left, with the cost of one ranging from $150 to $2,700.

CEO Jon Hoch said with the recent blizzards on the East Coast and Tuesday’s local storm, the business has more than doubled its sales of snow blowers since last January, selling more than 3,700 last month, compared to 1,100 in January 2010. Hoch expects a nationwide shortage of snow blowers, especially since manufacturers are slowing their production as the snowy months subside.

“The east coast gobbled up all the inventory, and now that Chicago is getting hit, there’s no inventory left,” he said.

DETERMINED TO SHOP

When merchants at Oakbrook Center closed their doors early at 5 p.m. Tuesday, the plan was to re-open Wednesday afternoon after the parking lots were cleared of snow. But the snow kept coming, and by 7 a.m. Wednesday, Senior General Manager Chuck Fleming made the call to remain closed. He spent Wednesday fielding phone calls at the shuttered outdoor mall while overseeing an effort to unearth the large parking lot from beneath the snow.

“This is the first time that I can remember in a very long time that we actually closed all day (because of weather),” said Fleming, citing safety concerns for employees and shoppers. “It impacts a lot of people but it was kind of an easy decision because you have to look at what’s right. This was a big storm and I think everyone realized this is a unique situation.”

Crews had the parking lot snow packed into piles by noon Wednesday, ready to be transported away later in the week. Shoppers still dropped by.

“Curiosity,” Cheryl Warner of Naperville said while seated behind the wheel of her Jeep Cherokee when asked what brought her out. “My daughter and I were bored and figured we’d have free rein of the place. We’re Chicagoans. It takes more than a blizzard to keep us from finding a good bargain!”

Fleming wasn’t too worried about the lost revenue. “People are going to shop,” he said. “They may have to skip today, but they’ll be back tomorrow.”

Source

Coldest weather in two years expected

Tribune staff report

3:39 p.m. CST, February 2, 2011

Round 2: The coldest weather in two years.

After getting hit with its third-biggest snowstorm on record, the Chicago area is now under a wind chill advisory. Temperatures are expected to drop to 11-15 degrees below zero tonight, with wind chills down to 25 to 35 below zero.

"It will mark the city's coldest weather since Jan. 15-16, 2009 when the mercury bottomed out at -13 and -18," the Chicago Weather Center reports.

The arctic freeze comes as the Chicago area is still reeling from the blizzard: motorists are still stranded, the airports are virtually empty, major roads are closed, Metra trains are running on limited schedules.

A blizzard warning was issued at 3 p.m. Tuesday and cancelled at 1:15 p.m. today. The snowfall total from the storm was pegged at 20.2 inches at O’Hare International Airport, making the Groundhog Day storm the third-largest in Chicago history, according to the weather service.

Other totals include: 20.6 inches in St. Charles, 20 inches in Beach Park, 20 inches in Ottawa, 18.5 inches in Elk Grove Village, 18 inches in Waukegan and 11 inches in Crown Point, Ind.

ComEd was reporting about 48,000 ComEd customers still without power, including 34,000 in Chicago. The utility had restored power to 143,000 customers since the storm began, according to ComEd spokeswoman Tabrina Davis. "It’s visibility. It’s road accidents. It’s slick, treacherous road conditions," she said. "Our crews are experiencing that and, given those conditions, restoration times will be delayed."

The high winds also were hampering emergency crews that continued to rescue stranded motorists this morning throughout the Chicago area.

On Lake Shore Drive, nearly a thousand cars were stranded overnight. Just before dawn, firefighters walked down the line of snow-caked cars, shining flashlights inside to check on any motorists. At 6:30 a.m., fire officials said anyone who wanted to be rescued from their cars had been, though at least one driver disputed that.

Both directions of the drive remained closed as cars were towed away, but officials hope to have the drive open later in the day.

In Lake County, about 30 motorists were stranded after a jackknifed truck brought traffic to a standstill near Antioch.

No major injuries have been reported so far on the roads, but officials say a 60-year-old man pulled from Diversey Harbor early this morning was either blown or fell into the lake at the height of the storm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 58-year-old Lyons man died after shoveling snow in front of his home. Because the road was impassable, he was taken via police armored vehicle to a waiting ambulance, which took him toLoyola University Medical Center. He died there.

"Residents are urged to use caution when shoveling heavy snow and neighbors are encouraged to check on their neighbors during this historical storm," said a police statement.

In Kane and Lake counties, authorities found it so difficult to keep up with the number of stranded drivers, they shut down all main roads and begged people to stop trying to drive.

People were getting stuck and requiring rescue all night, but some people are still trying to drive on impassable roads this morning, Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Curt Gregory said.

"You’re not going to stop that," he said. "For the most part we’ve got the majority of it cleaned up.

"Now it’s just sporadic. When people leave home and think they can get through in a Honda Civic, we’ve got to go rescue them."

By 3:30 p.m., mayor Lake County roads had reopened but officials were asking people to postpone all unnecessary travel until after 5 p.m. Wednesday. Kane County officials used snowmobiles to reach people stranded along a stretch of road near Hampshire, while Will County officials said they were having problems reaching stuck motorists.

Around 5:30 a.m., Illinois State Police closed lllinois Highway 53 from U.S. Interstate 90 to Lake-Cook Road. There were cars stranded in the road and crews were making rescues, according to a statement.

State police said all other Chicago area expressways were "impassable" and that ramps had three- to four-foot-high drifts.

"Citizen cooperation, restraint in attempting travel and patience are absolutely critical to prevent an unnecessary tragedy during the next 24 hours. Do not travel unless you absolutely have to," police said.

All roads in unincorporated McHenry County are impassable and people should stay home, the sheriff’s department said. Officials ask that no one travel in the unincorporated areas. If you do travel, “you do so at your own risk,” the sheriff’s office stated in a release.

Snow is drifting up to 8 feet high. Deputies are working 12-hour shifts, and using snowmobiles when necessary.

The department reported no serious crashes or injuries. There was just one reported accident with minor injuries near Woodstock. If drivers do get into an accident, they should file a report later this week.

Because the office is getting a lot of 911 calls, the sheriff asks that people call 911 only for emergencies. Non-emergencies should be reported to (815)338-2144.

About 50 motorists had been aided by the Illinois National Guard, which initially deployed 500 soldiers to help patrol the interstates, primarily working to help stranded motorists, Staff Sgt. Kassidy Snyder said.

An additional 200 soldiers were alerted overnight for duty. The agency also deployed about 140 roving vehicles to dig out vehicles and rescue trapped motorists.

"The main thing is making sure they're safe and they have phoned someone," she said. "We're going to be here helping out the State Police until the state doesn't need us anymore."

It was no better on the suburban rails.

Metra said it would have no service today on the following lines: Heritage Corridor, North Central Service, Metra Electric Blue Island Branch, Southwest Service, Union Pacific McHenry.

There will be Sunday service on the following lines: Union Pacific North Line, Union Pacific West Line, Union Pacific Northwest Line, BNSF Railway, Milwaukee District West Line, Milwaukee District North Line, Rock Island District, Metra Electric District - University Park and South Chicago.

Part of the reason for going to a Sunday schedule was because the weather made it impossible for many crew members to get to their jobs, Metra acting executive director Bill Tupper said.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transport District reported it will run the South Shore line on a partial weekday schedule.

CTA trains were also experiencing some delays early this morning, city officials said. Passengers had to be shuttled between the Howard and Belmont stops on the Red Line Tuesday night because of frozen switches.

Chicago's two airports remained ghost towns this morning. More than 1,300 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday and 2,500 more were canceled today. City officials say both airports remain open, however.

Hundreds of schools are closed today, including Chicago public schools for the first time since 1999.

Gov. Pat Quinn has ordered all non-essential state employees to stay home today.

Agencies and offices critical to public health safety will remain open, including veteran's homes, state centers for the disabled, state police, corrections facilities, juvenile justice centers, emergency management offices.

Even local groundhogs got a reprieve from their annual Feb. 2 prognostications, because we clearly don’t need a glorified woodchuck to tell us that there’s still some winter ahead.

Source

Freezing in Arizona? But it's a dry cold

Posted: Wednesday, February 2, 2011 10:24 am | Updated: 1:34 pm, Wed Feb 2, 2011.

Tribune East Valley Tribune

The cold weather that meteorologists were talking about all week is here -- and it's supposed to stay cold for at least the next two days with areas around the Valley dipping to around 20 degrees.

But it's a dry cold, right? And it will be windy, too.

No cold temperature records were set, but parts of the East Valley saw freezing temperatures with Falcon Field in east Mesa dropping to 28 degrees and 30 mph winds thanks to a cold front that began blowing in from Canada on Tuesday, according to Craig Ellis, a meteorologist.

On Wednesday morning, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded 33 degrees, slightly missing a record low of 29 set nearly 90 years ago, in 1922. Thursday's low temperature at Sky Harbor is forecast to be 30 degrees, two degrees higher than the low of 28 also set in 1922, Ellis said.

Tempe dipped to 32 degrees throughout early parts of Wednesday morning, and Chandler saw 34 degrees. Thompson Peak in north Scottsdale, which is about 4,000 feet in elevation, was 17 degrees and Carefree north of Phoenix was 23.

"It's pretty unusual for us to get this much Arctic air," Ellis said. "It's extremely dry, but very windy. Even though it's not going to be as cold the next two days as it was today, there's still freeze warnings in effect for Thursday and Friday."

Peak winds reached 40 mph throughout parts of the west Valley.

Freeze warnings will last until 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday as Valley residents are advised to cover up their plants, keep their pets inside and possibly cover water pipes.

Winter residents who dine at the Iowa Cafe in east Mesa often say they feel like they're back home when they eat there, but on Wednesday, they weren't complaining they were here instead of the blizzard-bound Midwest.

Jim Allison and his wife, Margaret, are from Spearfish, S.D., and for the last 14 years, they've spent winters in Arizona. On Wednesday, they were enjoying their lunch at the Iowa Cafe, thankful they were far removed from their hometown where a low of minus-22 and a high of zero was expected for Wednesday.

"All I can say is it can be a helluva lot worse," Jim Allison said of the Valley's cold spell. "We're not complaining. This is a little chilly, but it wouldn't be so cold if it wasn't windy. We're enjoying it here. We enjoy it every year we come out. We're glad we're here."

Wednesday's high temperature is expected to be 48, but there's a possibility that it may not even reach that, Ellis said. The "lowest" high temperature was set in 1985 when it was 49, and there's a good chance that a new record could be set.

Thursday's high temperature is expected to be 51 with a low of 32

SRP workers are looking into whether the cause of two coal fire plants going offline about 6:20 a.m. was due to the cold weather, knocking out power to customers all over the Valley, according to Patty Garcia-Likens, an SRP spokeswoman. One power station in Springerville, and another one in Page went offline, initially cutting off power to 65,000 customers in the Valley, Garcia-Likens said.

"We did not have enough power to serve all of our customers," Garcia-Likens said.

At 6:34 a.m., 43,000 customers were without power, and about 10 minutes later, that number dropped to 22,000 customers.

All SRP customers were back online about 6:55 a.m., Garcia-Likens said.

There were no reported outages or rolling blackouts with APS customers throughout the Valley, according to Steven Gotfried, an APS spokesman.

As the temperatures started to dip Tuesday night, the number of people gathering early for dinner at Mesa's Paz de Cristo kitchen increased threefold, said Terra Masias, fundraising/marketing director.

The group served 211 free meals, about normal, Masias said. But more people showed up early to find a place to stay warm.

"Last night everybody was talking about how cold it was. There were more requests for jackets, blankets, gloves, any kind of winter gear," Masias said. "We serve hot chocolate and coffee at dinner. We usually have leftovers. We were totally out last night."

Masias said the requests for winter gear were filled thanks to a large donation made during the holidays, but the group could use men's undergarments as well as cash donations.

"We know many people are skipping meals in order to pay for heat," she said, noting the same event happens in summer when people pay air-conditioning bills. "We know we're helping them by giving them food."

By the weekend, temperatures should be reaching back into the 60s.

"That is what we're used to seeing this time of year," Ellis said.

Tribune writer Michelle Reese contributed to this report.

Source

Waste Management Phoenix Open start delayed by frost

Feb. 3, 2011 07:36 AM

The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com

As expected, the start of the Waste Management Phoenix Open has been delayed by frost.

Tournament officials said they are hoping to start play around 9:40 a.m.

At 7:20 a.m. Thursday, it was 29 degrees at the course, although its supposed to get into the low 50s later and a high of 60 on Friday.

On Wednesday, Slugger White, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, said in his 30 years with the tour he's never seen an entire day lost to frozen greens anywhere, and surely did not expect it in Phoenix.

"When they're frozen like that, they'll track up and we'd be looking at tracks all week and until they grow out again," he said Wednesday. "It would just do so much damage to the golf course."

White did not rule out cancellation of the first round.

Source

Phoenix, U.S. feel winter's icy blast

by Glen Creno, Bob Young and John Stanley - Feb. 3, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

A blast of frigid air that slammed into the Valley of the Sun briefly cut power to 65,000 homes, froze out a big golf event, threatened crops and sent locals scrambling for sweaters and warm coats.

An Arctic air mass dipping deep into the state brought a snap of cold, windy weather to metro Phoenix on Wednesday, causing a little inconvenience and a lot of complaining.

For the rest of America, it spawned a fearsome snowstorm that smothered nearly half of the nation in a shroud of white, snarling transportation from Oklahoma to New England and burying parts of the Midwest under 2 feet of snow. It dumped 20 inches of snow on Chicago, the city's third-largest amount on record.

The northern storm was, if not unprecedented, extraordinarily rare for its size and ferocious strength.

"A storm that produces a swath of 20-inch snow is really something we'd see once every 50 years - maybe," said Thomas Spriggs, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Tens of millions of people stayed home.

In the Valley, the nasty temperatures forced Waste Management Phoenix Open organizers to cancel Wednesday's pro-am event, which precedes the main PGA championship, because of frozen greens and fairways at TPC Scottsdale.

Officials are concerned the lingering cold may disrupt the start of the four-day Open today.

"It will be warmer, and we'll be able to play golf, hopefully," said tournament Chairman Mike McQuaid of the host Thunderbirds organization. "But there probably will be a frost delay, and we'll certainly be playing up until dark."

Slugger White, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, made the decision to cancel Wednesday's pro-am event because the greens still were frozen at 11 a.m. He said there was no frost, but the unseasonably low temperatures that combined with high winds left the ground and grass frozen.

"I don't ever remember stopping a full day for frozen greens," said White, who has worked on the PGA Tour for 30 years.

The Valley's weather isn't expected to be much warmer today. The Weather Service said Wednesday's highs in Phoenix weren't expected to exceed 45 degrees. The forecast for today calls for temperatures in the mid-40s to low 50s. There were freeze warnings for Wednesday night and tonight. Today's low could challenge the record for the date - 28 degrees, set in 1922 - said Charlotte Dewey, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Phoenix.

"It's fairly rare for this area," she said of the chilly weather. "It's still winter, but it is unusually cold."

In Flagstaff, Wednesday's high reached only 12 degrees, the seventh-coldest day on record.

Dewey said that the cold air pushing into Arizona is moving gradually out and that temperatures will rise as it does.

Over much of the nation's midsection, skies were beginning to clear by afternoon, but overnight temperatures in the upper Midwest were expected to fall to minus 5 to minus 20.

Nationwide, the system was blamed for the deaths of at least a dozen people. There were reports of roofs in Northeastern states collapsing from heavy loads of snow and ice.

Bad weather at airports in the snow zone rippled to travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where dozens of flights were canceled Wednesday, according to airport spokeswoman Deborah Ostreicher. She expected the logjam to begin breaking today as airports nationally begin to recover.

Nationwide, flight cancellations reached 13,000 for the week, making this system the most disruptive this winter.

"This is rare weather for us, with cold and wind," Ostreicher said. "But the impacts we're having are from the storms and the after-effects of the storms in the Northeast."

The airlines, she said, helped reduce the number of people stranded in the airport by canceling flights before the storm began slamming the country's midsection Tuesday.

In the far East Valley, Schnepf Farms is calling in air support to battle the low temperatures, which threaten to damage its Queen Creek peach orchards.

Owner Mark Schnepf is renting a helicopter, at a cost of about $850 an hour, to hover over one of the farm's orchards for a couple of hours before sunrise today and Friday morning.

By replacing colder air near the ground with slightly warmer air above it, just a few degrees can mean the difference between light damage and total loss of what the farm says is Arizona's largest peach crop.

Schnepf, who runs the farm with his wife, Carrie, is also using hot water from a geothermal well and about 50 propane heaters to try to ward off damage to the trees and protect this spring's peach crop, which the farm values at about $250,000.

"We've only had one crop failure in over 40 years of growing peaches, from a freeze a number of years ago. So, we're hoping not to get a repeat of that," Mark said.

Regardless of temperatures, Schnepf Farms is holding its Peach Blossom Celebration Thursdays through Sundays this month, part of the farm's 70th anniversary.

"Even if there aren't any peaches, we can still enjoy the blooms," Carrie said, adding that they won't know for about three weeks if their frost-fighting efforts will be successful.

As homeowners rush to protect their own vulnerable trees and yard plants, Baker Nursery in Phoenix reported it sold out of frost cloths used to cover them. Julie Moody, a buyer and sales clerk at the business, said people who use sheets to cover their plants should lay down a double layer.

She also recommended anchoring plant coverings with heavy rocks to keep them in place in the wind.

"You can cover things and still get some damage," she warned.

A series of problems caused by the cold weather knocked six generators at five different power plants in Arizona and New Mexico offline Wednesday and forced Salt River Project to cut power to 65,000 East Valley customers at about 6:22 a.m.

Most had power restored within the hour. Utility officials blamed the cold weather for most of the problems at plants in Page, St. Johns, Springerville and Farmington, N.M.. They said all of the plants are expected to be running today.

Reporter Ryan Randazzo and the Associated Press contributed to this article.

Source

Schnepf Farms to use helicopter to save peach crop from frost

by John Stanley - Feb. 2, 2011 01:27 PM

The Arizona Republic

Schnepf Farms of Queen Creek is calling in air support to battle the freezing temperatures that threaten their peaches.

Owner Mark Schnepf is renting a helicopter - at a cost of about $850 an hour to hover over one of their orchards for a couple of hours before sunrise Thursday and Friday mornings.

The idea said, is to replace the colder air near the ground with the slightly warmer air above. A difference of just a few degrees can mean the difference between light damage and total loss of what they claim is Arizona's largest peach crop.

In addition to the helicopter, Schnepf, who runs the farm with his wife, Carrie, is using hot water from a geothermal well and about 50 propane heaters to try to protect their peaches, which they value at around a quarter of a million dollars.

"It's our largest crop that we grow here," said Schnepf. "We've only had one crop failure in over 40 years of growing peaches, from a freeze a number of years ago. So we're hoping not to get a repeat of that."

This is the first time they've used a helicopter for frost control, Schnepf said.

John Castrogiovanni, owner of Vertical Aviation in Scottsdale, is supplying a Robinson R44, a light utility and training helicopter that seats four, for the operation.

"Hopefully this will save their crop," said Castrogiovanni, who plans to hover about 100 feet above one of the Schnepf's orchards. "Their peach trees are budding right now. With a bigger helicopter, you get a bigger downwash, and too much wind can be detrimental."

Vertical Aviation often uses helicopters for frost and freeze control in Willcox and Safford. "It's a pretty normal operation for us," Castrogiovanni said.

Many orchards use fans to circulate air, said Kelly Young, an urban horticulture agent with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County.

Schnepf, along with a small crew, planned to spend much of the next couple of nights in the orchards. Although their small geothermal well produces water that is nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it doesn't produce enough volume to protect the farm's six orchards, which total about 40 acres, he said.

Because the propane heaters only have enough fuel to run about six hours, they plan to light them around midnight, Schnepf said.

"I can't control (the weather)," he said. "But we'll light the heaters and start the water and have the helicopter come in and there's not much more I can do."

According to the National Weather Service website, temperatures in Queen Creek are expected to drop into the low-to-mid-20s Thursday and Friday mornings, and to just below freezing on Saturday morning. Overnight lows will then climb into the upper 30s for the next few days.

Regardless of temperatures, Schnepf Farms, at 24810 S. Rittenhouse Road, is holding its Peach Blossom Celebration every Thursday through Sunday this month, one of numerous events the Schnepfs have scheduled to mark the farm's 70th anniversary this year.

"Whether we have a peach crop or not, we'll have the Peach Blossom Celebration," Carrie Schnepf said. "So people can come out and see the trees in bloom, take hayrides around the farm, see how we're getting ready for the peach season."

Because they grow a variety of peaches, the trees sport blossoms ranging from snowy white to deep pink, and are at different stages of growth.

"Even if there aren't any peaches, we can still enjoy the blooms," Carrie Schnepf said, adding that they won't know for about three weeks if their frost-fighting efforts will be successful.

Hundreds stuck on road all night as storm rages

by Don Babwin and Lindsey Tanner - Feb. 3, 2011 12:00 AM

Associated Press

CHICAGO - Lindsey Wilson was on Lake Shore Drive, but she couldn't tell where. It was dark, and the snow swirling around the stranded bus made it impossible to see anything but the closest cars.

There was talk among her fellow commuters of 25-foot waves washing up from Lake Michigan and about when the bus might get going, but nobody knew anything - not the driver, not the emergency operators passengers were calling, and not the shivering motorists climbing aboard to keep warm.

When a group of passengers decided enough was enough and started to walk, Wilson joined them.

"I got 100 feet, everything was an orange hue, there was snow in my face, I couldn't see anything, I turned around and couldn't see the bus and I thought I was going to die," she said Wednesday morning.

Wilson, 26, was among hundreds of people in at least 1,500 vehicles who found themselves trapped on Chicago's most famous stretch of road for as long as 12 hours Tuesday night and Wednesday morning during one of the worst snowstorms in the city's history.

In the morning light, the roadway looked like rush hour had been stopped in time. Three lanes of cars cluttered the road, with snow reaching as high as the windshields. Some cars were almost completely buried. Bulldozers worked to clear the snow from around the cars, then tow trucks plucked them out of snowdrifts one by one.

On a stranded public-transit bus, a two-way radio echoed eerily through open passenger doors. Yellow hazard lights were still blinking on some abandoned cars.

The stranded vehicles were evidence of the worst breakdown in Chicago's handling of the storm.

Some motorists came away angry, frustrated and puzzled at why the city didn't close the crucial thoroughfare earlier, or why officials didn't anticipate that a bus accident could clog it up like a cork in a bottle.

"In 31 years with the city, I haven't experienced anything like we did at Lake Shore Drive," said Raymond Orozco, Mayor Richard Daley's chief of staff. Later, Orozco told reporters that it was his call not to shut the road as soon as snow began, and he stood by the decision.

For hour after hour, the passengers in Wilson's bus waited amid crackling lightning and wind gusts of up to 70 mph that whipped up the snow and buried vehicles before their eyes.

With word spreading that one or more buses had jackknifed ahead of them and sealed the drive, they tried to make a break for it. Then, fearing they would be swallowed by snowdrifts that had climbed to the tops of vehicles, some turned around.

"I thought if I fall over, what would happen if I got buried under a pile of snow?" said Wilson, who made it back to her bus as much by feel as sight.

The Chicago Tribune contributed to this article

Phoenix

Hard-freeze warning issued for greater Phoenix area

by Taylor Hill and Stephanie Johnson - Feb. 1, 2011 09:05 PM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

The National Weather Service issued a rare hard-freeze warning for the greater Phoenix area and north Pinal County, with temperatures expected to reach near-record lows on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

A hard-freeze warning is issued when unusually low temperatures are expected.

Temperatures are expected to dip into the 20s late Wednesday night and the early morning low is expected to be 27 degrees.

The last time a hard-freeze warning was issued in the area was in January 2007, when there were two consecutive lows of 29 degrees. The record low for Feb. 3 is 25 degrees in 1919.

Other anticipated overnight lows throughout the valley include 19 in Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek, 23 in Mesa and Scottsdale, 24 in Glendale and Peoria and 25 in Tempe.

Precautions should be taken to minimize damage to plants, exposed pipes and pets.

Thursday's high is expected to reach the mid 50s, with clear skies and a night-time low around 30 degrees. Clear skies and sunshine continue into Friday and Saturday.

For more detailed information visit weather.gov/phoenix.

Winter storm leaves bitter cold, destruction

Feb. 3, 2011 07:42 AM

Associated Press

MILFORD, Conn. - An enormous winter storm left Midwesterners shivering in its frozen footprint and crushed snow-laden buildings in the Northeast, where a combination of ice, snow and rain pushed much of the winter-cursed region to its breaking point.

Wind chills dipped to nearly 30 below in parts of the nation's midsection early Thursday as the region began dealing with the storm's aftermath. The sprawling system unloaded as much as 2 feet of snow, crippled airports and stranded drivers in downtown Chicago as if in a prairie blizzard. Much of Texas was under a hard freeze warning Wednesday; light snowfall stubbornly lingered into the night in Maine.

Officials in the Northeast had warned homeowners and businesses for days of the dangers of leaving snow piled up on rooftops. As the 2,000-mile-long storm cloaked the region in ice and added inches to the piles of snow already settled across the landscape, the predictions came true. No one was seriously injured, however.

In Middletown, Conn., the entire third floor of a building failed, littering the street with bricks and snapping two trees. Acting Fire Marshal Al Santostefano said two workers fled when they heard a cracking sound.

"It's like a bomb scene," Santostefano said. "Thank God they left the building when they did."

A gas station canopy on New York's Long Island collapsed, as did an airplane hangar near Boston, damaging aircraft. Roof cave-ins also were reported in Rhode Island. The University of Connecticut closed its hockey rink as a precaution because of the amount of ice and snow on the roof. The school hoped to have it inspected and reopened in time for a game Saturday.

A barn roof collapsed Wednesday night at an upstate New York dairy farm, trapping an unknown number of cows inside.

Some places in the Northeast that have gotten more snow so far this winter than they usually get the whole season are running out of places to put it. In Portland, Maine, the downtown snow-storage area was expected to reach capacity after this week's storm - the first time in three years that has happened.

"It's not so much about plowing as it is about where to put it," said Mike Schumaker, a contractor near Albany, N.Y. "We still have snow from Christmas that hasn't melted."

Snow totals in the Northeast hit their peak at several inches in New England, a far cry from the foot or more the region has come to expect with each passing storm in a season full of them. Meanwhile, the Midwest was reeling from the storm's wallop as the system swept eastward.

Tens of millions of people stayed home Wednesday. The hardy few Midwesterners who ventured out faced howling winds that turned snowflakes into face-stinging needles. Chicago's 20.2 inches of snow was the city's third-largest amount on record.

Across the storm's path, lonely commuters struggled against drifts 3 and 4 feet deep in eerily silent streets, some of which had not seen a plow's blade since the snow started a day earlier. Parkas and ski goggles normally reserved for the slopes became essential for getting to work.

"This is probably the most snow I've seen in the last 34 years," joked 34-year-old Chicagoan Michael George. "I saw some people cross-country skiing on my way to the train. It was pretty wild."

The system was blamed for at least 12 deaths, including a homeless man who burned to death on Long Island as he tried to light cans of cooking fuel and a woman in Oklahoma City who was killed while being pulled behind a truck on a sled that hit a guard rail.

Airport operations slowed to a crawl nationwide, and flight cancellations reached 13,000 for the week, making this system the most disruptive so far this winter. A massive post-Christmas blizzard led to about 10,000 cancellations.

Chicago public schools canceled classes for a second straight day. The city's iconic Lake Shore Drive reopened before dawn Thursday after crews worked overnight to clear snow and stranded vehicles. Drivers had abandoned hundreds of vehicles stopped in their tracks by snow that drifted as high as the windshields late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

Some motorists came away angry, frustrated that the city didn't close the crucial thoroughfare earlier. Others were mad at themselves for going out during the storm or not using another route.

"In 31 years with the city, I haven't experienced anything like we did at Lake Shore Drive," said Raymond Orozco, chief of staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley. "Hundreds of people were very inconvenienced, and we apologize for that."

City crews who worked into the night Wednesday were aiming to have Lake Shore Drive passable for the morning rush hour.

Utility crews raced to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses in Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where freezing rain and ice brought down electrical lines.

Rolling blackouts were implemented across Texas, including in Super Bowl host city Dallas, because of high demand during a rare ice storm. The outages would not affect Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington, said Jeamy Molina, a spokeswoman for utility provider Oncor. But other Super Bowl facilities, such as team hotels, were not exempt, she said.

The storm derived its power from the collision of cold air sweeping down from Canada and warm, moist air coming up from the South. Weather experts said La Nina, a temperature phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, also contributed.

"The atmosphere doesn't like that contrast in temperature. Things get mixed together and you have a storm like this," said Gino Izzo, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "The jet stream up in the atmosphere was like the engine and the warm air was the fuel."

Snowfall totals this winter are off the charts along parts of the Interstate 95 corridor between Boston and Philadelphia.

Newark, N.J., was hit with 62 inches of snow through Jan. 27, compared with the seasonal average of 25 inches. In New York City, 56 inches of snow has fallen on Central Park, compared to the 22-inch seasonal average.

Chicago

Blizzard's gone, bitter cold is in

By Deanese Williams-Harris Tribune reporter

7:02 a.m. CST, February 3, 2011

Bone chilling temperatures and strong winds making it seem even colder have moved into north central and northeastern Illinois, posing a threat of frostbite and hypothermia for the unprepared, officials warned this morning.

A wind chill advisory is in effect until noon today, and officials urge commuters to cover up if venturing outside.

Cold winds are part two of a brutal storm system that stranded motorists, caused power outages, forced the cancelation of thousands of flights and closed down schools across the region, including Chicago schools for the first time since 1999.

On Wednesday, winds of up to 70 mph whipped around about 20.2 inches of snow, creating high drifts and some whiteout conditions that made driving hazardous. This morning's sub-zero temperatures were expected to add a different layer of misery for commuters.

At 7 a.m., the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was zero with a wind chill of 11 below.

Wind chills were expected to plumet to 20 below by early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Under such conditions, frostbite can develop within 30 minutes, officials said.

Other area 7 a.m. temperatures: Aurora, 9 below; Joliet, 11 below; West Chicago, 7 below; Morris, 9 below, and Lansing, 6 below. Wheeling was a relatively balmy 2 above.

As of 6 a..m. Wednesday, about 5,800 ComEd customers were still without power, according to the utility. All power is expected to be restored by mid-day.

Emergency personnel worked overnight to clear Lake Shore Drive of abandoned vehicles and mounds of snow, according to Roderick Drew, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

By 4:30 a.m., all cars had been cleared from the roadway, and a half hour after that the Drive was reopened.

Chicago

Blizzard of 2011: 3rd snowiest

Staff report

2:01 p.m. CST, February 2, 2011

The snowstorm that battered the area looks to be the 3rd biggest on record in Chicago.

As of noon 20.2 inches of snow was recorded at O'Hare International Airport, putting the storm ahead of the infamous storm of January 1979 that left 18.8 inches and was widely considered a factor in the mayoral race.

The storm has already set another record: Feb. 1 was the snowiest February day recorded in Chicago.

Asked if the storm was matching predictions, weather service meteorologist Gino Izzi said, “As it turns out, I think it’s pretty safe to say we nailed it.”

Following are the five top winter storms to hit Chicago:

1. 23.0 inches on Jan. 26-27, 1967

2. 21.6 inches on Jan .1-3, 1999

3. 20.2 inches on Feb. 1-2, 2011

4. 19.2 inches on March 25-26, 1930

5. 18.8 inches on Jan. 13-14, 1979

Chicago

Forecasters right on the nose — for once

By Joel Hood, Tribune reporter

6:18 p.m. CST, February 2, 2011

Meteorologists nailed this one.

By the time the snow stopped falling Wednesday, the total snowfall recorded at O'Hare International Airport reached 20.2 inches, putting the storm third behind historic winter snows of 1967 and 1999.

If this storm was different from the other two, it was because weather scientists had seen it coming days in advance.

"We did pretty damn well," said Mark Ratzer, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Chicago. "Our forecast all along for Chicago had been around 20 inches and that's essentially what we ended up with, which was right in the ballpark given the magnitude of the storm."

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It was a remarkably accurate forecast given the size and complexity of a fast-moving storm that flared up Friday off the coast of California. Meteorologists expected that moist air from the Pacific and Gulf Coast would give the storm heft and volume, and therefore knew that the system could bring blizzardlike conditions to the Chicago area.

By Monday, scientists had determined there was a 75 percent chance that Chicago would see at least a foot of snow overnight and that wind gusts would top 50 mph.

They also had correctly predicted the possibility of what's commonly called "thundersnow," an unusual meteorological phenomenon in which intense thunder and lightning accompany a snowstorm. At the peak of the storm's fury, lightning was hitting the ground as many as 50 times in one hour, Ratzer said.

Thundersnow occurs when warm, moist air circulates vertically with the cold temperatures of a winter storm below, experts said. On Tuesday night, thunder and lightning added an eerie element to the wind-whipped snowstorm.

"Thundersnow generally doesn't last very long and it looks pretty weird because it's snowing and your visibility is limited and the whole sky lights up green," Ratzer said. "I don't recall seeing a storm, in my 16 years I've been doing this, that produced as much thunder and lightning as this one."

The storm's severity varied slightly throughout the area. Hardest hit were lakefront North Side neighborhoods and North Shore suburbs, where at one point snow was falling at 3 to 4 inches an hour. Areas near the lake also took on a couple of extra inches of lake-effect snow.

Meteorologists were able to forecast this storm so precisely because of advancements in computer modeling technology, as well as improvements in data collection and observation, said John Ferree, a severe storm expert at the National Weather Service in Oklahoma.

Computer models are now able to calculate up to 20 different scenarios of a storm's impact and then select the average, or the most likely that is to occur based on ever-changing weather conditions. This modeling software has been used for only about five years and factors in the inherent uncertainties about a storm's behavior.

The computer programs are also able to take in other variables, such as the atmospheric profiles of temperatures, moisture and winds taken throughout the country by surface observation, weather balloons, satellites, commercial airlines and advanced weather instruments on weather service aircraft.

"We have better training, better tools, better communication and it all adds up to a better forecast," Ferree said. "As a forecast of a major event, this one turned out pretty good."

Which makes Thursday's forecast of extended subzero temperatures and extreme wind-chill warnings of 20 below zero all the more chilling.

"The skies are clearing up and it's going to get cold. Real cold," Ratzer said.

jhood@tribune.com

Chicago

Lake Shore Drive open, side streets next

9:09 a.m. CST, February 3, 2011

Lake Shore Drive reopened this morning, some 34 hours after it was closed down by a series of accidents that left some motorists trapped in their cars for 9 hours and more.

Chicago police said the roadway reopened about 5:50 a.m. after crews worked through the night to clear the hundreds of cars stranded on the drive.

More than 500 cars are still sitting in lots where they were towed by the city from the drive and elsewhere. Motorists can find out where they are by checking this Web site, where cars are listed by license plate.

Numerous CTA bus reroutes were still in effect, including Lake Shore Drive express buses running on surface streets instead of the drive until further notice, according to a CTA spokeswoman. Traffic was sparse and steady on the drive two hours after it opened. Traffic problems included congestion on the northbound Edens Expressway between Touhy Avenue and Tower Road, where snow was causing intermittent lane blockages.

Ray Orozco, Mayor Richard Daley's chief of staff, said this morning that most of the city's main streets were also cleared and the city turned its attention to side streets around midnight.

The drive was closed shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday after northbound vehicles backed up behind a cascade of traffic accidents.

Cars were towed to one of six temporary lots, where city officials said their owners could retrieve them without charge.

Some motorists on the drive were trapped in their cars for nine hours or more. There were no deaths, major injuries or medical emergencies after commuters and city buses chose to drive on a road that officials had warned was likely to be buffeted by fierce winds and waves sweeping off the lake.

City officials explained they kept the drive open for as long as they did because the roadway was passable until the rapid-fire series of accidents between Fullerton Parkway and Belmont Avenue, and closing it might have created gridlock on other city streets, making it difficult for emergency vehicles to get through.

Rolling Phoenix Power Outages

As plants falter, SRP cuts power to 65,000

by Ryan Randazzo - Feb. 3, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Cold weather created problems at several power plants Wednesday, prompting Salt River Project to take the unprecedented step of cutting power to 65,000 customers. But officials said they don't expect more disruptions today.

A series of mostly weather-related malfunctions took six power plants offline starting Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning.

The problems that took generators offline in Gilbert; Page, St. Johns and Springerville in northern Arizona; and Farmington, N.M., have been repaired, officials said. SRP officials would describe most of the problems only as mechanical issues caused by cold weather.

SRP didn't have enough energy to meet high customer demand as people turned on lights and warmed their homes, even after starting up its remaining available power plants and buying supplemental energy from other providers.

For the first time, SRP was forced to take customers offline, starting with 65,000 customers in the East Valley, to avoid disruptions to neighboring utilities. Most customers had power restored in an hour.

If the utility has similar problems today, the East Valley won't be the first region to face blackouts.

"Our power-generation side is keenly aware of the situation we were in (Wednesday) morning and is doing everything they can to keep that from happening again," said Rob Kondziolka, manager of transmission and generation operations for SRP.

Problems started Tuesday night when the Navajo Generating Station in Page had one of its three generators stop sending power to the grid because of an unspecified problem.

Hours later, a generator at Coronado Generating Station in St. Johns also went offline. Then another and another.

By early Wednesday, SRP had interrupted power for major customers that agreed to power cuts in emergencies, such as mines, and it was buying supplemental power to cover the early-morning spike in demand as people turn on appliances.

Then, another unit at Navajo unexpectedly went offline at 6:22 a.m. with mechanical problems, and SRP customers were using more electricity than the utility was supplying to the grid.

When that happens, utilities have 15 minutes to cut people off before customers start triggering problems for interconnected utilities.

"That combination of elements conspired against us," Kondziolka said.

But as SRP cut off customers, a sixth generator went offline, this one at the Springerville Generating Station.

Utilities prepare for just that type of emergency. They pool their resources and keep a "spinning reserve" of power plants that are turned on but not sending power to the grid, which are intended to be ready instantly, if needed. But all the reserve already was being used, Kondziolka said.

Blackouts caused by lightning strikes or other acts of nature are common in Arizona, but cutting electricity because of insufficient power generation is not.

Arizona wasn't the only place with weather-related power problems. Texas utilities, which operate on a distinct power grid from those serving Arizona, reported similar problems Wednesday as cold weather caused problems at power plants and pushed energy demand. Rolling blackouts in Texas affected hundreds of thousands of people.

Kondziolka said that SRP had enough reserve power to handle the anticipated power demand but that too many plants had problems at once.

"Each plant had its own issues," he said. "We have never seen anything like this before, to have this many units drop off in this kind of timeframe."

SRP likely will be running some of its natural-gas burning plants this morning in case the coal-fired plants in the colder part of the state have similar problems.

But the utility is not asking people to curtail energy use.

SRP officials could not offer details of the types of problems the weather caused at Navajo, Coronado or Springerville coal plants. But Kondziolka said the gas-fired plant in Gilbert that failed experienced an unusual vibration. That the issue was resolved.

Arizona Public Service Co. runs the Four Corners Power Plant in Farmington, where a unit that sends some of its power to SRP failed Wednesday.

APS spokesman Damon Gross said a steam-pressure-sensing line froze at Four Corners, which caused the plant to immediately stop sending power to the grid.

He said that the problem has been resolved and that the plant should be at full power today.

APS had enough reserve power to compensate for losing the generator without disrupting power to customers, he said.

SRP must report the incidents to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which can levy civil penalties to utilities that fail to meet reliability standards.

Florida Power and Light agreed in 2009 to pay $25 million in civil penalties for a blackout in February 2008.

It's too early to say if those agencies will initiate a probe into the SRP incident, FERC spokesman Craig Cano said.

"NERC will propose a fine in the event it determines a reliability standard has been violated," he said.

Tucson is cold too

Tucson

Fernanda Echavarri, Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star

Posted: Thursday, February 3, 2011 8:30 am

The deaths of two women have been linked to the record cold in Tucson today.

The body of one woman, believed to be in her late 30s, was found in an alley near East Speedway and North Campbell Avenue. Tucson fire officials said the death was caused by the record low temperature today of 18 degrees, which felt much colder because of wind.

In the second death likely linked to the weather, a woman's body was found in the 1800 block of North McKinley Avenue, near East 22nd Street and South Craycroft Road.

At least one other person was found laying outside nearly frozen this morning, Tucson Fire Capt. Tricia Tracy said. That man, who had apparently been assaulted, was taken to a hospital early this morning but died about 2 a.m.

By 8 a.m. the temperature at the Tucson International Airport was 19 degrees but felt like 5 degrees because of the wind chill factor, according to the National Weather Service. Even after noon today, the temperature remained below freezing, at 29 degrees, nine degrees short of the forecast high, 38.

Schools close

Two TUSD elementary schools have been shut down for the day due to water outages.

Students from Lynn Urquides and Schumaker elementary schools were picked up by parents or bused to neighboring schools.

Lynn Urquides students who do not have transportation will spend the rest of the day at Pueblo Magnet High School. Lynn Urquides is located on West Ajo Way near South Mission Road.

Schumaker students are being sent to Steele Elementary School. Schumaker is located near North Pantano Road and East Fifth Street. The district is assessing the level of disruption to determine how best to handle each individual situation, Egbert said.

School was canceled in Douglas because of the extreme cold and power outages in the area. Redeemer Lutheran Church school at 8845 North Silverbell Rd., closed today because there was no water in the building, and students from San Miguel High School, 6601 S. San Fernando Rd. stayed home because the school's water pipes froze overnight.

Candy Egbert, TUSD's interim chief operations officer, said other buildings throughout the district are experience outages of water and gas, which affects heating.

Parents can pick up their children at the receiving sites with proper identification. Students not picked up will be transported back to school at the end of the day for regular dismissal.

All after-school activities are canceled. Students who normally stay after school for these programs will need to be picked up at dismissal time.

Several alternative programs have been affected also. Students from the following sites have been released with approval of a parent or guardian: Starr-T.A.P.P., Broadway Bridge, Drake Alternative, Project PASS, Project MORE and Agave.

Students from Sopori Elementary School in Amado have also been sent home because the facility has no water.

Large water pipes froze overnight.

The Joyner-Green Valley Branch Library is also closed because of water outage.

Power outage

A power outage in Green Valley left at least 7,000 Tucson Electric Power customers bearing the cold without power for a few hours.

Crews restored power to affected residences and businesses by 8:30 a.m., said Joseph Barrios, a TEP spokesman.

About 100 customers in the city were also without power Thursday morning, Barrios said.

Tucson Water

At least 1,000 residences and businesses throughout the city had no water this morning.

Some residences had frozen pipes while others were affected by an automatic shut down form Tucson Water caused by electronic malfunctions at booster sites.

Crews have been working since midnight to bring water back to city customers, said Fernando Molina, a Tucson Water spokesman.

A water main break on South Irving Avenue and East Paseo Grande, near East 22nd Street and South Alvernon Way, has left residents in the area without water as crews work to repair it. A large amount of water on the streets had to be covered with sand to prevent hazards, Molina said.

A water pipe at a main Metro Water location froze, leaving almost 30 residences and businesses without water in Tucson's northwest side, and about 200 more whose own water pipes froze overnight, according to Metro Water.

Heater fire

A space heater used to keep two small dogs warm inside a trailer on Tucson's northwest side, caused a fire this morning, said Capt. Adam Goldberg of Northwest fire.

Firefighters responded to the 1300 block of West Allegheny Street, near West Wetmore and North Flowing Wells roads, just before 2 a.m. and found heavy fire in the back of the trailer on a sleeper cab, Goldberg said. The two dogs believed to be inside were not found.

Firefighters at the scene had "plentiful ice" on their gloves and helmets, and water from the rescue turned into ice on the ground making it slippery for crews battling the fire, Goldberg said.

Tucson

Brrr! Today shapes up as coldest Feb. 3 on the books

Fernanda Echavarri Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Thursday, February 3, 2011 12:00 am | Comments

Today's highest temperature could break a 108-year-old record for Tucson's lowest high temperature on this date. On Feb. 3, 1903, the highest temperature was 44 degrees.

Today, the highest temperature is expected to be 39, according to the National Weather Service.

Wednesday, Tucson broke a 50-year-old record when the highest temperature for Groundhog Day was 42 degrees at midnight.

The last time it was close to that low for the highest temperature was Feb. 2, 1956, at 43 degrees.

Wednesday's strong winds made temperatures in the mid-30s feel like mid-20s for most of the day.

New record lows could be set by this morning and also again Friday morning.

The National Weather Service forecasts an overnight low of 18 degrees for today, beating the 21-degree record low set on Feb. 3, 1910. Another record low, again in the upper teens, is expected overnight into Friday.

Friday starts off the warming trend with a high of 53 degrees and an overnight low of 32, according to the National Weather Service.

The weekend will be warmer, with highs in the mid-60s and lows in the mid-30s.

On StarNet: At least there's no snow or ice. See photos of weather around the country at azstarnet.com/gallery

Did you know 37 degrees was the lowest high temperature in Tucson for the month of February, recorded Feb. 6, 1899

17 degrees was the lowest temperature in February, recorded Feb. 7, 1899

SOURCE: National Weather Service, Tucson

Reporter Fernanda Echavarri: 573-4224 or fechavarri@azstarnet.com

Tucson

Natural gas shortage leaves chunk of Tucson, SE Arizona without heat

Tim Steller, Arizona Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star

Posted: Thursday, February 3, 2011 1:55 pm

The extreme cold across the Southwest is draining so much natural gas from a key pipeline that parts of the Tucson area have no gas and therefore no heat.

That’s becoming a crisis for 14,000 households in the Rita Ranch area on Tucson’s southeast side and in the Catalina Foothills west of North Swan road, who lost gas service today, during record-cold temperatures.

People living south of Buffalo Soldier Trail in Sierra Vista and down to Hereford, also are without gas.

For those customers, gas service will likely be out all day today and into Friday or Saturday, said Southwest Gas spokeswoman Libby Howell. Utility workers will be going door-to-door re-starting service.

Southwest Gas is asking customers who still have natural-gas service to limit their use by turning down the heat and reducing hot-water usage.

Officials are working on a plan to set up emergency shelters for tonight, Mayor Bob Walkup said. It's scheduled to be announced later this afternoon.

East-side resident Donna Ester said her thermostat was set at 60 degrees all night but the gas went out before it automatically goes up during the day. The result: the indoor temperature was in the low 50s all day and promised to go further down.

“I worry most about my cat because he is always cold,” Ester said via e-mail. “I’ve been heating up a neckwarmer in the microwave and putting it in his bed.”

The reason for the shortage is the not only high demand by residential customers but also high demand by power companies to fuel their plants, El Paso Natural Gas said in a news release.

“More gas is being taken off our system than we have supplies coming into the system,” El Paso said.

El Paso supplies the gas used by Southwest’s customers. The company is shifting all the gas possible into its pipeline, El Paso said.

It’s a scary scenario for elderly people living in Hereford, resident Beverly Manigault said. The temperature dropped below zero in their area, which lies in a dip near the Huachuca Mountains, she said.

Electric space heaters are sold out at local retail stores, but Manigault’s husband was able to buy three at the store on Fort Huachuca, she said.

They’re using two in their home and gave the other to an elderly neighbor, she said.

Wimps in Phoenix think it's cold!!!!

Phoenix-area residents bundle up for unfamiliar cold

by Glen Creno - Feb. 4, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

This week's cold snap had Valley residents complaining about freezing weather and reaching deep into their closets for warm winter coats, hats and mittens.

Some local schools declared Thursday a "cold day" and held recess indoors, because students didn't come dressed for outside play. Numerous schools across southern Arizona are closed today, including more than 30 in Tucson, because of broken water pipes, heating problems or both.

Arizonans typically spoiled by balmy winter weather have been acting like wimps these past few days, bundling up in wool sweaters, scarves and gloves to protect against temperatures near freezing as they have headed into work. At home, they wrapped water pipes in thick layers of towels to prevent them from freezing and blanketed outside plants to save them from the hard frost.

It was cruel comeuppance for those who revel in photographs of Midwesterners digging out from blizzards every winter.

The unseasonable cold snap that left locals shivering did real damage to homes, however. Plumbers and heating- service businesses were inundated with calls from homeowners needing repairs to broken pipes and furnaces.

Daryl Bingham from George Brazil Services in Phoenix said the company received hundreds of calls Thursday morning and was struggling to keep up with demand.

Most problems stemmed from furnaces breaking from the sudden strain of round-the-clock demands for heat, and from pipes that burst because of the cold. Worst-affected areas were Queen Creek, Avondale and Sun City.

Temperatures in Flagstaff fell to 2 degrees Thursday morning and remained around freezing for most of the day. Window Rock, in northeastern Arizona, had a morning low of minus-23 degrees, making it the coldest spot in the state. A morning low of 20 in Tucson caused broken pipes, leaving more than 1,000 businesses, schools and homes without water.

When the temperatures plunged this week, Lauren Gwozdz of Phoenix piled on layers of clothes to weather her dog-walking job. On Thursday, she was dressed in a long-sleeve shirt, two hooded sweat shirts, a knit hat, scarf and boots.

"It's freezing," the native Arizonan said as she walked a poodle named Teddy. "To me, this is cold."

Thursday's high in Phoenix struggled to reach 49 degrees, and there was another freeze warning for Thursday night. Today's forecast calls for highs ranging from 50 to 55 degrees.

Meanwhile, visitors to the Valley from cold climates strolled the Waste Management Phoenix Open, wearing golf shirts and shorts, and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Temperatures in Scottsdale were still a frigid 29 at 7:30 a.m., just before the scheduled start of play, which was delayed for four hours because of frost on the course. The first group of golfers did not tee off until 11:40 a.m.

It was almost as cold at the end of the day, when golf fans shivered as they waited for buses to take them back to parking lots. Sharisse Williams of Tempe, wearing a light jacket and sweater, summed up the feeling of those who went out unprepared: "I wish I had on more, I wish I had a scarf, earmuffs, gloves; I wish I had a personal heater; I could use another pairs of socks, too. It's so cold."

But to all those visitors mocking Arizonans for complaining about the cold, Paula Rubendall of Scottsdale had a challenge as she and her husband watched the end of the first day's play of the Open from the comfort of the clubhouse patio: "Come on back in August and see how long you last."

Northern transplants to the Valley were largely unfazed by the inclement temps.

Stacey Palizzi of Laveen was out in just a light coat and figured that was good enough to repel the cold. She used to live in New Hampshire and has endured winters in the Northeast. Bringing in her tomato plants for the night was about the only thing she was doing to combat the chilly weather.

Palizzi figures there's an upside to the chilly weather.

Think about the scorching Arizona summer, she said, when you can't leave the house.

Carolyn Pinkerton of Anthem had to dig out a jacket she hadn't worn in 20 years to help fend off the cold in downtown Phoenix.

She was at the Convention Center early Thursday and said she had lost feeling in her toes and had to exercise to warm them up.

But she wasn't griping.

"Compared to other states with snow and ice, I'll take this," Pinkerton said.

Reporter Samantha Valtierra Bush contributed to this article.

Chicago

Flurry of complaints falls on cleanup effort

By Dahleen Glanton and John Byrne, Tribune reporters

1:00 a.m. CST, February 5, 2011

Chicago continued to plow through mounds of snow Friday but residents of some neighborhoods, particularly on the South Side, complained that their communities remained hobbled by impassable side streets and major thoroughfares.

City schools were back in business and most buses and trains ran on regular schedules with fewer delays. But city officials had no timeline for when garbage collection would resume or when all residential streets would be cleared.

Some residents were frustrated with the city's efforts. Delores Parham, 65, lives in the 9300 block of South Greenwood Avenue, which was still blocked by 5-foot drifts early in the day.

"We've been stranded here for three days," Parham said. "We've been calling and waiting for the Streets and Sanitation people to come. But the city isn't coming."

Residents took matters into their own hands. Parham called her nephew and he used his truck to clear Greenwood and nearby streets. Several residents chipped in $10 to $20 per house and gave him a little more than $100 for his work.

Garfield Boulevard/55th Street, which runs through Washington Park to the University of Chicago, was blocked east of Martin Luther King Drive because of high drifts, said city spokesman Matt Smith. Cars and buses were diverted to 51st and 59th streets as workers plowed 55th Street, he said.

The majority of Chicago's side streets were open , according to Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Thomas Byrne. But officials said it would take more time for crews to clear the city's 3,300 miles of side streets.

"We've been (going) through the side streets since midnight (Thursday) morning, and we are continuing to go through those," Byrne said. "Some are in better shape than others."

Byrne said garbage trucks were trying to force their way through alleys, creating paths for cars to follow to garages. He said snowplows would not be used in alleys because they push snow against garage entrances. Alternative equipment like high-lift trucks can be used in alleys or other tight spots when needed.

Some residents and aldermen have charged that decisions about snow removal have been politically or racially motivated. Ald. Sandi Jackson, 7th, made a series of automated phone calls to city residents Thursday saying she has asked the city's inspector general to investigate whether race or economics played a role in determining which streets would be plowed first.

City officials denied that politics or race played a role in their snow-removal plan. Heavy pieces of equipment such as plows and front-end loaders are sometimes moved from one ward to another if crews encounter a particularly snowbound area, Byrne said. He said he decides whether to move equipment after talking with workers.

Phyllis Sampson who lives in the 400 block of West 95th Place said she became impatient after hearing that other neighborhoods, including some nearby, had been cleared while hers has not.

"I was waiting patiently for them to clean the residential streets after they finished the major roads. But it bothers me that areas near me that have quite a few people who are political figures or city workers have their streets plowed," she said. "They say it's not political, but I don't buy it."

John Videll, 40, who received one of Jackson's automated calls though he does not live in her ward, said he was angered by her allegations. He lives in what he called a middle-class neighborhood on the North Side and his street, the 3900 block of North Janssen Avenue, also had not been plowed, he said.

"I really find it offensive that this alderman was playing the race and class card 24 hours after the blizzard," Videll said. "We haven't seen any snowplows either. If they're favoring white people, they missed me."

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn said the state has shifted from blizzard response mode to recovery mode and will begin the daunting task of tallying the storm's cost to seek federal aid.

Snow removal, overtime and emergency response expenses will easily reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Quinn said. Chicago is expected to press its case for a hefty chunk of whatever the federal government awards.

Also Friday, the city said 57 cars towed after becoming stuck on Lake Shore Drive during the storm have yet to be claimed.

Tribune reporters Liam Ford, Dawn Rhodes, Erin Meyer and Monique Garcia contributed to this report.

Dallas, Texas

Falling ice hurts at least 6 at Super Bowl stadium

February 4, 2011 5:05 PM

Tribune News Services

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Falling ice and snow from the roof of Super Bowl venue Cowboys Stadium left at least six people injured on Friday, officials said.

Crews responded to a series of injury calls after the ice started falling to the ground in chunks Friday afternoon, according to the Arlington Fire department, which said six people were taken to hospital.

The two most seriously injured were listed in a stable condition, the department said. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said as many as seven people may have been injured, including one who suffered a possible concussion and another a shoulder injury.

All stadium entrances, except for a truck tunnel, were closed after the ice and snow began falling from the roof.

"The likelihood is they'll have to get somebody up there to get the snow off as soon as possible," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "They likely will be doing that in the next 24 hours."

The National Weather Service had issued a winter storm warning Friday for Arlington, home of the $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers will play this weekend for the NFL title.

Forecasters expect a mostly sunny Super Bowl Sunday with highs in the 40s, and organizers said last week that the stadium's retractable roof will be closed.

The latest bout of unusual cold and snow hit a city still struggling to recover from Tuesday's ice storm, part of a massive system that paralyzed a large swath of the country with blizzards, thundersnow and bone-chilling temperatures this week.

The snow caused about 380 inbound flights to be canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport by Friday afternoon, and it shut down commercial flights at the smaller Dallas Love Field for several hours.

Chicago Deep Freeze

Deep freeze moves into blizzard-battered Chicago

By Dawn Rhodes Tribune reporter

9:27 a.m. CST, February 8, 2011

The Chicago area's latest weather challenge is moving in this morning with arctic chill and breezy winds expected to linger through Thursday.

A wind chill advisory is in effect from 9 p.m. today until noon Wednesday, with wind chill values today reaching as low 5 below to 15 below early this morning and 20 below to 25 below tonight. Wind chills at the latter level will cause frostbite to exposed skin within 30 minutes. Today's high temperature will be 10 to 14 above.

Skies are expected to become mostly clear this afternoon with near steady temperatures in the single digits above zero for much of northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

At 9 a.m., the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was 10 degrees with a wind chill of 9 below. Aurora's temperature was 3 below with a wind chill of minus 15, and West Chicago was at 3 above with a wind chill of 7 below.

A lake-effect snow advisory was in effect this morning in parts of Northwest Indiana with 2 to 5 inches of snowfall expected across Berrien, La Porte and St. Joseph counties. The National Weather Service warned that snow would be heavy at times early this morning but diminish early this afternoon.

The cold blast's arrival already was making some area roads slick, particularly ramps, bridges and overpasses.

"People should be aware that there could be slick spots in places where the snow has melted and allowed to freeze," said Guy Tridgell, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation. "That could be something as simple as a sunny area or spots where there has been melt because of salt."

Crews are continuing to plow snow and salt the outside and turning lanes on highways, Tridgell said.

Early this morning, Chicago redirected the 174 snow-fighting trucks that have been patrolling main routes and Lake Shore Drive into the city's 3,300-mile network of side streets to patrol and salt in anticipation of the cold front.

The frigid cold, with subzero lows forecast, is expected to cling through northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana until Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

A lake-effect snowfall Monday afternoon and evening led to the deployment of 174 plow and salt trucks on main routes and Lake Shore Drive, said Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne. Residential streets will be salted again as well, Byrne said.

"We are advising all motorists to drive with caution on the roadways, especially on those routes that have temporarily narrowed lanes," Byrne said.

The latest bout of harsh winter weather brought a fresh round of reminders to take frequent breaks while shoveling and look in on friends and neighbors who may be especially vulnerable to the harsh conditions.

"We ask the residents to be our eyes and ears and to check in on family, friends and neighbors to be sure that all is OK," said Mary Ellen Caron, commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services.

The city's water department issued cautions about freezing pipes, suggesting residents insulate exposed pipes, run a trickle of water when temperatures drop below zero and heat areas including garages and basements when possible.

Freezing pipes and other household calamites brought on by the cold weather create ripe targets for scam artists, said Norma Reyes, commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Reyes advised residents to be wary of people who offer to perform unsolicited home repairs and to always ask to see credentials.

"Knowledge is the first line of defense," Reyes said. "The best consumer is a consumer that knows their rights."

cdrhodes@tribune.com

Dead bodies under the snow!

Source

As Snow Melts, New Yorkers Find What Lies Beneath

by The Associated Press

February 8, 2011

The mountains of snow that have covered the Northeastern landscape for the past month and a half are finally melting, revealing oozing lumps of garbage, gaping potholes, bicycles, rat-infested sofas, discarded Christmas trees — even bodies.

More than 57 inches of snow has fallen on New York City this winter — the snowiest January ever — and the story is similar across the Northeast. Residents welcomed warmer weather this week before an expected plunge back into the freezer, but they weren't so thrilled about the side effects.

"This is disgusting. I can't tell if it's snow or garbage or some sick other thing," Karen James, 34, said after finding discarded bills, paper cups and sludge in the shrinking mound of snow and ice covering her car. "This stinks."

Since a post-Christmas blizzard dumped more than 2 feet of snow on parts of the city, the snow piles have become as familiar as taxis to New Yorkers, forcing pedestrians to weave single-file through snow-packed sidewalks.

Two bodies were found in vehicles last week. In both cases, a passer-by spotted someone slumped over the wheel after snow melted away from the windows. One man was found dead Feb. 1 of an apparent gunshot wound; he had been reported missing a week earlier.

And on Friday, a day after he was reported missing, Argent Dyryzi's body was found in the driver's seat of a BMW. Authorities believe he may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

At least one other body was discovered in the New York area in late January, in a parking lot in West Nyack. The man had been dead of hypothermia for several days before anyone noticed, police said.

The city Sanitation Department is responsible for plowing streets and crosswalks, while residents and businesses are expected to clear sidewalks. After grousing for weeks about the city's failure to plow enough snow, many New Yorkers are now griping about the garbage piles and big pieces of furniture, some crawling with rats.

During the snowstorms, the Sanitation Department suspended garbage collection for days at a time in order to use trucks for snow removal, which meant about 11,000 tons of trash a day didn't get collected. Some of it got buried by the succeeding storms.

Garbage collection has since resumed, but it's not proceeding fast enough for some New Yorkers.

"It's like we've replaced the snow walls with garbage walls," said Brooklyn resident Jill Coniglario, 38. "Even the parks are covered in mud and filthy snow. My kids are not playing in this stuff, that's for sure."

And thanks to pet owners who got a little lazy in the bad weather, many city streets are now shellacked with dog feces.

In New York, as residents dug out their cars in recent days, sanitation crews tried to remove the big piles not taken care of by nature. In some places, crews are hauling away the snow in dump trucks and taking it one of 36 giant hot tub-like snowmelters that sit over the sewers. Most of the tubs can melt 60 tons per hour, and in most winters, the job would be done by now, department spokesman Vito Turso said.

"We have had snow upon snow upon snow, Turso said. "It's starting to feel like we're going to see snow on the streets until opening day at Yankee Stadium."

Source

Feb. 10, 2011 10:28 AM ET

Frigid air, snow, worry ranchers in Plains, South

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An Icy blast tugged temperatures well below zero degrees in a large swath of the South on Thursday, leaving ranchers and farmers fretting about their animals after a winter storm dropped 2 feet of snow on parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma and left at least three people dead.

Forecasters predicted lows of minus 11 degrees in northwest Arkansas and minus 10 degrees in parts of Oklahoma. But by early morning, temperatures had dipped to minus 18 in Fayetteville and to minus 27 in Bartlesville, Okla., according to the National Weather Service.

In an area of the nation unaccustomed to such snow and subzero temperatures, those numbers had cattlemen such as Paul Marinoni crossing their fingers that pregnant cows won't give birth during the coldest hours. The newborns could stick to the ground, much like tongues on a flagpole, and die, Marinoni said.

"How do you prevent it?" Marinoni, 70, said from his farm outside Fayetteville. "You can't."

Marinoni said he leaves the cows out overnight because they're too messy to stay inside a barn. Even before the temperatures dipped to well below zero, some cows had collected fins of icicles down their backs as the snow.

"There ain't no way to keep them warm," he said.

Marinoni hoped to check on his cows at sunrise, but by midmorning, he was still shuttered inside, waiting for it to warm up a bit.

"Minus 17 with about 20 inches of snow," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

The frigid temperatures followed a powerful blizzard that howled through the nation's midsection Wednesday and made its way into the Deep South, where it brought a mix of rain and snow to some areas. The heaviest snow was concentrated in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, where the towns of Colcord and Spavinaw got 22 and 23 inches, respectively. The deepest snow was reported near the village of Jay, with 25 inches.

Three people, including a mother and her infant, died in traffic accidents Wednesday along a snow-covered highway in Arkansas, and another woman was killed when she lost control of her vehicle in Springfield, Mo. A van carrying prisoners skidded on ice and crashed on a highway in eastern Oklahoma on Thursday, injuring two prisoners. Blowing snow brought traffic to a halt in some areas and abandoned cars choked major highways after some drivers gave up and walked away.

The fresh snow was especially troublesome in Tulsa, Okla., where many roads were still impassable from last week's record 14-inch snowfall. The previous storm kept students out of school for at least six days. Mail, bus and trash service were only recently restored.

Five more inches of snow fell Wednesday in Tulsa, according to the National Weather Service. That raised the city's total for the winter to 25.9 inches, breaking the previous seasonal record of 25.6 inches, set during the winter of 1923-24.

Elsewhere in Oklahoma, ranchers struggled to keep their herds well fed and hydrated. Danny Engelman spent hours tending to some 300 cows.

"If the temperatures get down to zero, with wind chills of 20 below zero, you've got a good chance of losing a calf," Engelman said. "Sometimes you've got to put them in the pickup and get some heat on them."

Most ranchers prepare for winter storms by giving their cattle the right food to build up their energy reserves.

"If their belly is filled with high-protein feed, they can withstand incredible cold," Engelman said.

Meanwhile, poultry farmers will burn a lot of propane in the next few days trying to heat their chicken houses, said Dustan Clark, an Extension Service poultry veterinarian at the University of Arkansas.

"It's a balancing act — ventilating the house to keep it from getting too damp, bringing in the cold air, and heating it to keep it from getting too cold," he said.

Source

For wildlife, snow and cold can mean disaster or opportunity

By Hailey Branson-Potts Tribune reporter

1:46 a.m. CST, February 10, 2011

With lingering deep snow and an arctic chill this week, the worst may be in store for some species of wildlife struggling to find food buried under 20 inches of snow.

Different animals have different reactions to unusually harsh winters, and some even thrive. But for others, the longer the snow stays around, the more animals will die.

"The blizzard itself and surviving it was not so much a concern as the lingering cold and the snow not melting," said Jeff Walk, director of science at The Nature Conservancy in Ilinois.

History has shown quails to suffer during the winter, Walk said. During a series of harsh winters in the late 1970s, the quail population was cut dramatically and took years to rebound.

Quails are ground feeders that live on seeds. When they can't reach the ground, they starve

"Birds are like little furnaces," Walk said. "The real danger is when they run out of fuel for the furnace."

This snow-heavy winter likely will leave a large dent in northern Illinois' already small quail population, Walk said. Because the quail population of northern Illinois has been declining dramatically over the last century, the threat of large numbers of birds dying lends a sense of urgency for conservationists trying to maintain habitats where quails can repopulate.

"Good habitats have to be there all the time, from June even through Groundhog Day blizzards," Walk said. "It's essential for the survival of birds like quails that don't migrate."

For squirrels, the blizzard came at a delicate time: the heart of their first mating season, which usually is from the last week of January through the first few weeks of February.

"This is the time of year they're feeling frisky," said Joel Brown, a biological sciences professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Squirrels, like quails, will be most affected by prolonged snow cover and an inability to find their widely dispersed, buried food caches. People can tell squirrels are desperate if they start eating tree bark, Brown said.

Younger, smaller squirrels will die in larger numbers, with those born last fall the first to go in a harsh winter.

"They're young, and they're too late," Brown said. "They get the smallest food caches and have the least body fat and don't have the experience of adults."

Because of the blizzard, squirrel mortality will be more concentrated rather than spread over several weeks.

Squirrels face additional danger when they dig for food in the snow because they are more exposed to predators like hawks and eagles, Brown said.

Not all animals suffer in the snow. Mice, shrews and voles do well beneath the snow in insulated areas and tunnels left in the vegetation the snow covers.

Heat rises from the earth and is captured by the snow, keeping the temperatures in this area, called the subnivean zone, close to freezing, even if the temperature above is in single digits, said John Yunger, a professor of environmental biology at Governors State University in University Park.

"It can be a difference of 20 or 30 degrees, which can be the difference between survival and non-survival," Yunger said.

Some snow may melt this coming week, with expected high temperatures above freezing . If the snow melts and extremely cold temperatures return, animals that relied upon snow cover for warmth and protection from predators may be at risk, Yunger said.

The good news is that no species will be impacted to the point where it can't recover, said Jim Renn, Wildlife Action Plan coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources.

"Animals have been doing this for centuries," Renn said. "They're called wildlife because they're used to surviving in the wild."

hbranson@tribune.com

Source

Winter melt appears around the corner

By Gerry Smith and Dawn Rhodes Tribune reporters

4:57 a.m. CST, February 11, 2011

For the first time in what seems a long time, today's forecast includes no hazardous weather watches or warnings, no wind chill advisories and, of course, no blizzards.

All in all, it should be a fairly typical winter's day.

The National Weather Service predicts mostly cloudy skies with a 30 percent chance of light snow. Highs are expected to be in the mid to upper 20s, with southwest winds of 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight should be mostly cloudy again, with a 20 percent chance of light snow. Temperatures will be in the lower 20s.

The freezing mark should be broken tomorrow on the upside with highs in the lower 30s. Temperatures will climb even higher over the next few days, with highs in the mid to upper 30s Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

"Right now it's looking like an ideal melting period," said Bill Morris, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago.

Such ideal conditions involve temperatures rising above freezing during the day, then dropping below freezing overnight. This helps regulate runoff so it doesn't overwhelm rivers and sewers, Morris said.

Current snow pack is between 10 to 20 inches deep, but that only translates to two or three inches of water, Morris said. There is also between 10 to 15 inches of frost underground, which could be problematic if it rains because it would force water into streams instead of percolating into the soil.

The combination of snow melt and rain has caused problems in the past. In December 2008, the National Weather Service issued flash-flood watches from central through northern Illinois and northwest Indiana when such a cocktail posed the threat of runoff spilling into streams, rivers, even roads.

Though rain is not in the immediate forecast, some suburban officials are wary about potential flooding caused by "ice jamming." To help prevent this, Will County officials on Friday — for the first time this winter — will begin siphoning water from a cooling pond at the Dresden Power Plant into the nearby Kankakee River, according to Harold Damron, Will County's emergency management director.

Installed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1980s, three pipes will pump warm water into the river so water does not build up behind ice and breach the banks.

"We've had ice jams in the past that have resulted in flooding," Damron said. "This gives us one tool to try to relieve that."

In Naperville, City Engineer Bill Novack on Thursday asked residents to take proactive measures to prevent potential flooding next week, urging them to test their sump pumps, clear off street drains and check storm grates.

"We came together as a community during last week's blizzard, and by working together again we can help mitigate possible flooding issues," Novack said in a release.

Cook County officials were watching river gauges along the Des Plaines River and were ready to notify communities if river levels start to rise, said Robert King, acting director of the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. King said the county has stockpiles of sandbags to assist municipalities in their responses to any flooding.

"Right now we're not anticipating any (flooding), but it's on our radar," King said. "With as much snow on the ground as we have now, if it suddenly all melted very quickly we could have problems."

Motorists could also have problems as the expected freeze-thaw cycle next week is a recipe for potholes. Brian Steele, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation, said the city has seen about 6,000 fewer potholes this winter compared with last winter.

"But if we see the type of temperature fluctuations that are forecast for the next week or so, we'll definitely be on the lookout," Steele said.

Meanwhile, on the streets of downtown Chicago, pedestrians expressed mixed feelings about the impending warm-up. Torrie May, 31, of Bourbonnais, worried that repeated freezing and thawing would create dangerous sheets of ice. Richard Faulkner, 58, of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, said he was concerned about the environmental impact of snow-melt runoff.

"The amount of salt and pollutants that are going to be flowing into our watershed is going to be amazing," Faulkner said.

But others welcomed the relief.

After the blizzard last week, Lauren Brostowitz, 21, of Roscoe Village, built a 7-by-7-foot igloo in her backyard, but said she would not be disappointed if it melted away.

"I'd rather have it be warm than to keep building my igloo," she said. "The frigid temperatures are just a bit too much for all of us."

gfsmith@tribune.com

cdrhodes@tribune.com