Editor's Note: Our latest story on the storm and outages can be found here. Our original story continues below.
Thousands of residents across the north and west suburbs of Chicago remain without power or heat Thursday morning after an ice storm Wednesday accompanied by 35 mile per hour winds, freezing rain and sleet resulted in downed trees, ice-covered power lines, slippery roads and sidewalks and more than 200 flights canceled across Chicago's O'Hare and Midway International Airports.
"If outside, be alert for falling tree branches and downed power lines," a Wednesday evening tweet form the National Weather Service warned. "Do not touch downed power lines! If you will be out driving, use caution and be alert for downed tree branches and/or power lines blocking roadways."
Across the area, from Barrington to Cary, lingering effects remain and a handful of intersections remain dangerous as stop lights without power flash on-and-off, NBC 5 traffic reports show.
Although much of the precipitation across the region came to an end overnight, a dense fog advisory in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday for the entire Chicago area is adding to the already hazardous road conditions, with visibility down below one mile for many locations, the NBC 5 Storm Team reports.
Additionally, pockets of drizzle and strong winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour remain in the forecast for Thursday, potentially impacting drivers throughout the morning commute.
Local
More Than 80,000 Residents Without Power; Schools Forced to Close
As of 5 a.m. Thursday, 92,467 customers were currently without power, ComEd's outage map shows, down slightly from late Wednesday's number of more than 100,000. By 7 a.m, that number hovered around 82,000.
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However, some residents may remain in the dark through parts of the weekend, the utility says.
"Based on the history of similar storms of this size, we expect 80% of outages in your region to be restored by Thursday evening (2/23/23)," a storm message on ComEd's website reads, "and the majority of our remaining outages restored by Saturday evening (2/25/23).
Editor's Note: The numbers below were last updated at 6 a.m., and may have since changed. See ComEd's outage map, which is updated every 15 minutes for the latest numbers.
In McHenry County, where an ice storm warning remains in effect through 6 a.m. Thursday, 31,178 residents currently remain without power, with more than 7,000 of those residents in Crystal Lake alone.
In Cook County, 13,951 customers are currently impacted, with the majority of outages reported in Streamwood, Hanover Park and Elgin. In Kane County, 14,602 customers remain without power. More than 2,000 of those customers in South Elgin, ComEd says, where thousands are also impacted by internet outages, and several schools were forced to close as a result.
School Closures: Several Chicago-Area Schools Closed Due to Power Outage From Storm. Full List Here
"Due to a power outage caused by the weather conditions, the following schools will be closed today, Feb. 23," a Thursday message sent to parents from School District U-46 read. "South Elgin High School, Canton Middle School, Kenyon Woods Middle School, Clinton, Huff, Lords Park, Ridge Circle, Sunnydale and Willard elementary schools, as well as Illinois Park Early Learning Center."
In Lake County, 7,973 residents are without power, ComEd says.
Photos and video from Wednesday night in Lake Villa show a giant, fallen tree blocking a roadway as an ice-covered power line droops above.
Late Wednesday, the National Weather Service reported that ice total accumulations across Cook, DeKalb, Kane, Lake and McHenry Counties vary from .1 inch to .25 inches.
Thursday Forecast
According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, much of Thursday is expected to remain dry, and the threat of additional icing has come to an end, as temperatures in the morning hours remain above 32 degrees.
However, as a cold front moves in, temperatures are are expected to quickly drop, and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour will remain.
Additionally, a dense fog advisory in effect until 9 a.m. is causing low visibility cross the area.
Thursday evening is expected to be mostly cloudy, breezy and cold, temperatures in the mid teens to mid 20s, forecast models show.
Friday, the NBC 5 Storm Team says, will be partly sunny and chilly, with his in the mid 20s to low 30s.
