Stroll down Chicago street becomes arctic adventure

CHICAGO — For much of Friday, a stroll down State Street was an arctic adventure as the inches piled up and Chicago fought the first big snowfall of the season. “It’s gonna be a beautiful spring and summer,” one woman said.

A total of 285 plows were on the move — clearing streets and spreading tons of salt. Some people did doughnuts in the drifts. But a 5-8 inch buildup took much of the fun out of driving, and spin-outs were a common sight.

The airlines scrubbed more than 1,000 flights at O’Hare and Midway airports. 

Caprisha Perteete was in a hurry — to go nowhere.

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“I had to push my flight back first, then the bus was late ’cause of the snow, which was OK because we were running late as well,” she said. “My car was actually stuck in the driveway, and then we got here and my flights been delayed about an hour.”

Chicago closed its public schools, as did Detroit, Milwaukee and most of Iowa and Nebraska.

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“This is more reflective of what we kind of think about, what we have in our minds eye: what does a Chicago winter look like,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The wintry blast that befell the Windy City actually stretched from Montana to Michigan, with another couple of snow bands to come this weekend.