SFO-ORD Tomorrow (2/10) - Into the Snowstorm

[TraderDude]

I'm supposed to fly back home to Chicago tomorrow from San Francisco on a United 777. I see that there are supposed to be heavy snows today and tomorrow. We're scheduled to be landing at 7:50PM so it will also be nighttime. Darkness plus bad weather....that equals stress. I suppose there is a good chance they will cancel the flight if the storm is that bad, but if they don't, it promises to be a fairly scary adventure for me.
Please chime in with reassurance and words of wisdom. Thanks.

[MathFox]

First thing, snow in February is "business as usual" in Chicago; O'Hare has snowploughs and all of the other equipment to keep an airport going in between snowstorms. (Snow may seem foreign to Californians but it is normal in Illinois.)

O'Hare has procedures to handle snow and the airport will close runways if needed for safety. This may mean delays for your flight or a diversion to another airport. When things are really bad the airline could cancel your flight. Inconvenient for you, but the airlines place safety first. (Also the flight crew, they like to get home safely too.)

Anyway, changes are pretty good they your get in Chicago with a bit of delay; but when you are there, drive carefully in the snow!

[Barb-SAN]

I'm supposed to fly back home to Chicago tomorrow from San Francisco on a United 777. I see that there are supposed to be heavy snows today and tomorrow. We're scheduled to be landing at 7:50PM so it will also be nighttime. Darkness plus bad weather....that equals stress. I suppose there is a good chance they will cancel the flight if the storm is that bad, but if they don't, it promises to be a fairly scary adventure for me.
Please chime in with reassurance and words of wisdom. Thanks.
Well, if "home" is Chicago, you know all about winter snowstorms, how to dress for them, how to drive in them. The flight (if not cancelled) will be the safest part of your "fairly scary adventure". The airlines have guidelines about when conditions are safe to fly, and they will cancel if necessary. Automobile drivers have only their common sense, and some may be overly optimistic about the driving conditions...and end up in the ditch or worse.

You might find it of interest to monitor FlightAware today(KORD Airport Activity), linked here: http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KORD
Note memo below the map: "Chicago O'Hare Intl (KORD (http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KORD)) is currently experiencing inbound flights delayed at their origin an average of 1 hour 35 minutes due to snow and ice".
I just counted 30 airplanes (on FlightAware) either landing, taking off, or lined up to do one or the other, at KORD.:thumbsup:

Edited to add: just checked weather.com, there's a winter storm warning for KORD until 9AM Wed. (so you may be fine, flying later in the day on Wed).
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST WEDNESDAY.
* TIMING... SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING... WITH SNOW LIKELY BECOMING HEAVY AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW IS LIKELY TONIGHT INTO VERY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
* ACCUMULATIONS... LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON WILL RESULT IN HOURLY SNOWFALL RATES OF GENERALLY A HALF INCH OR LESS. LOCALIZED LAKE ENHANCEMENT OF THE SNOWFALL IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING RESULTING IN PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW WITH SNOWFALL RATES REACHING AN INCH OR MORE PER HOUR AT TIMES. A STORM TOTAL BY LATE TONIGHT OF 7 TO 11 INCHES IS EXPECTED... THOUGH THE LAKE ENHANCEMENT OF THE SNOW MAY RESULT IN LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS.
* HAZARDS... IN ADDITION TO THE LONG DURATION ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL... NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 30 AND 35 MPH TONIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING RESULTING IN CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... PARTICULARLY IN MORE OPEN AND OUTLYING AREAS. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR NEAR GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN RURAL AREAS TONIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
* IMPACTS... TRAVEL WILL CONTINUE TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY HAMPERED BY THE SNOW STORM... ESPECIALLY DURING THIS EVENING'S RUSH HOUR. SNOW MAY FALL HEAVILY ENOUGH AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THAT EVEN MAJOR ROADS AND HIGHWAYS COULD BECOME SNOW COVERED. BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TONIGHT WILL RESULT IN NEAR GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN OUTLYING AREAS MAKING TRAVEL VERY DANGEROUS. THE SNOW STORM IS ALSO SEVERELY AFFECTING AIR TRAVEL WITH HUNDREDS OF FLIGHTS ALREADY CANCELLED TO AND FROM CHICAGO.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... ICE... OR STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD... AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

[TraderDude]

Thanks Barb and MathFox. Chicago is my home, so I'm used to the snow. I just never got used to flying into a snowstorm. I like to be able to see the ground when I fly, and I always find it unnerving to make those blind approaches where you don't see the ground until seconds before touchdown. Plus weather often means in-flight delays and circling, which I don't like (especially when we're in the clouds). I'm hoping the weather won't be as bad by tomorrow evening. I'll be keeping an eye on the weather constantly until I leave.

[MathFox]

Hello TraderDude,

You might want to read up on "ILS" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_landing_system which is how planes find the landing runway in bad visibility. I agree, it is much more fun to fly and see the cities and mountains on the ground; but thanks to radar and modern (GPS) navigation it is perfectly safe for planes to fly through clouds.

[TraderDude]

Heading to the airport in a few minutes. Weather appears to be better than expected, so I'm happy about that. Thanks for the info and encouragement. I'll be happy to get home and see my dog again! I'll try to remember to post a report after the trip.

[Barb-SAN]

I'm guessing this is your flight...looks like the snowstorm you were worried about has moved out of the Chicago area, and is slamming the East Coast tonight. Good timing for you! :D
Hope you had a great flight...looking forward to the trip report.

[TraderDude]

Yes that was my flight. The weather did leave the midwest and headed east. We left on time, arrived on time and hardly saw any clouds at all. I could see the lights on the ground all the way from SFO to ORD. It turned out to be one of the smoothest flights I can remember. I don't think there was a single bump the whole way. The seat belt sign went off about 20 minutes after take off and stayed on all the way until the final descent. If all flights were like that, it would be a lot easier to get rid of the FoF. The only annoying thing was that the pilots didn't turn on Channel 9, which is fun to listen to sometimes. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Barb-SAN]

We left on time, arrived on time and hardly saw any clouds at all. I could see the lights on the ground all the way from SFO to ORD. It turned out to be one of the smoothest flights I can remember....
Yay...Great news! Thanks for reporting in! :hyped: