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The snow and ice caused spinouts and crashes. As weather conditions worsened, a CTA bus jackknifed in Hyde Park-- even though the city's full fleet of 284 snow fleets were out clearing and salting streets to get ahead of the storm.
Residents dealt with the aftermath with a day of digging out. Snow shovels were a common sight across the city and suburbs as most of the area received three to four inches of snow.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was seen in the northern suburbs.
In Deerfield, residents spent the day shoveling.
"I'm out here just trying to get a little of it done so I can drive in and out without a problem," said Earl Klugman.
In Highland Park, Linda Collins helped her daughter clean up.
"She had a caesarian last week so she can't lift. I'm sturdy so we have to clean the driveway so the movers can get in," said Collins.
Daniel Weinstock is only tackling part of his long driveway. The rest he's leaving up to mother nature.
"I'm just gonna do the part where we park our cars and let the rest go. The sun will melt the rest of it hopefully," he said.
Meanwhile, airlines at O'Hare International Airport are reporting delays averaging 30 minutes for in/outbound flights. Airlines have canceled nearly 350 flights primarily due to weather.
At Midway, airlines report some delays averaging 20 minutes and more than 30 cancellations.
Across the Midwest, some schools were closed in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Four deaths have been linked to the storm across the nation, including three from traffic accidents. The Minnesota State Patrol blamed the snow for over 200 accidents Friday morning. One driver was killed when a vehicle lost control, slid into oncoming traffic and broadsided another vehicle near a St. Paul suburb.
A 12-year-old boy died from injuries suffered in a collision on an icy highway in northern Nebraska on Thursday. A western Iowa woman was run over Thursday by her car, which had gotten stuck on her steep, slippery driveway.
And a 70-year-old woman from Wichita, Kan., died after her car collided with a train.
Where the storm struck hardest Wednesday and Thursday, impressive snow totals rolled in - 18 inches in the rural southern Kansas town of Zenda; 17 inches in Hays, Kan.; 13 inches in northern Oklahoma; 13 ½ inches in northeast Missouri and south-central Nebraska; and 12 inches in parts of Kansas City, Mo.
The system lost strength as it moved north and east overnight and into Friday.
Illinois' totals ranged from 7.5 inches in west-central Rushville to a mix of sleet and freezing rain in the St. Louis, Mo., suburbs. Dodge County in southeastern Minnesota received 8 inches by Friday morning, and Trempealeau County in western Wisconsin had 7 inches.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
