Tiny tulip buds are sprouting on Michigan Avenue and migrating songbirds are on their way, but more vivid signs of spring were scant Thursday as icy roads and blowing snow marked the season’s first full day.
Call it a mild winter’s revenge as winds gusted to 35 m.p.h, temperatures dropped 20 degrees below normal and morning commuters slid along frozen roads that caused two pile-ups and sent dozens of cars into ditches and against guardrails.
Though no major injuries were reported from any of the accidents, traffic came to a standstill in some areas and was significantly slowed in others before the clouds cleared in the late morning.
Icy conditions caused a 22-car pile-up that stopped traffic flow onto the Kennedy Expressway at Ontario Street for two hours beginning around 7 a.m. Nine people had to be treated for minor injuries at three area hospitals, said Illinois Department of Transportation engineer Kenneth Jonak.
In Waukegan, about 20 cars collided around 8 a.m. on the Amstutz Expressway, which separates downtown Waukegan from the lakefront.
The early morning snowfall, which measured one-tenth of an inch, showed there were a few wintry surprises left even though spring officially arrived at 1:16 p.m. Wednesday.
“At that moment the sun’s rays fell directly on the equator and began heading north,” marking the vernal equinox and the beginning of spring, said WGN-TV chief meteorologist Tom Skilling.
It might have seemed academic Thursday morning when people were bundled against the cold, but according to Skilling, better times are around the corner.
Friday looks to be another cold day, though, and some snow and freezing temperatures are possible next week. But high temperatures should begin to warm up into the low 40s by Saturday, and if current projections are correct, springtime temperatures around the 60-degree mark are possible in the next two weeks.
In the meantime, those desperate for signs of warmer days may have to hunt a bit.
Warren Senneke, a master gardener and volunteer at the Morton Arboretum, recommends seeking out crocuses for some springtime inspiration.
“They’re such a magnificent harbinger of spring; they beat everything,” he said of the small yellow, white and purple flowers blooming in gardens across the state.
A more subtle sign of warmer times might be coming from high above downtown as the city has asked skyscraper managers to dim the decorative lighting at the top of their buildings in preparation for migrating sparrows, thrushes and finches.
Some 7 million birds will pass through the flyway above the Great Lakes and many of those will stop to rest in and around the city, said Jessica Rio, with the city’s Department of Environment.
“We don’t know why it happens, but the lights seem to mess with a bird’s navigational system and it gets confused and flies around and around until it becomes exhausted,” she said. Often, the disoriented birds smash into windows or fall to the ground, something dimming the lights seems to prevent.
Though the birds haven’t arrived yet, they are expected at any time, Rio said.
And by the time they’re here, the weather should be warmer and Chicago will truly be able to say it’s spring.
