Rain could have been 20 inches of snow

Standing water was everywhere late Thursday in the wake of blinding downpours delivered
by building-rattling thunderstorms. The city's official rain tally at O'Hare Airport had
reached 1.90 inches by 9 p.m. -- an amount well beyond the 110-year-old Feb. 26 record of
0.92 inches. The deluge closed area roads and prompted flood warnings. The rainfall was
more than typically falls in an entire February and becomes the second heaviest February
rain event in 138 years. Midway Airport's 1.60 inches was also a same-day record,
eclipsing the 0.87 inches in 1971.
Plunging overnight temperatures threatened to turn standing water to ice, and motorists
and pedestrians were being advised to approach Friday morning's commute with caution. The
one consolation for many weary of winter was that Thursday's precipitation was liquid
and not 20 inches of snow, which could have occurred at lower temperatures.
LATE SEASON ARCTIC CHILL IN PLACE
March will open on a wintry note Sunday as strong arctic high north of the Great Lakes
sends an icy blast of northeast winds into the Chicago area causing bands of lake-effect
snow showers to develop here by Sunday evening.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune