Photo via Twitter/airlivenet

The Midwest is feeling the brunt of Bella, a rare heavy November winter storm that’s causing an increasing number of flight cancellations at Chicago’s two main airports.

By midday Saturday, the slow-moving system had dumped 11.1 inches of snow on O'Hare International Airport, Weather.com said, leading to almost 500 cancellations and slightly more than 500 delays for combined inbound and outbound flights by late afternoon, per Flightaware.com. At the same time, Airlive.net is showing zero visibility at the airport, and reports “all airplane ground traffic has ceased.”

Meanwhile, Midway International Airport, located in the southeast part of the Windy City, had 200 cancelled and just over 100 delayed departing and arriving flights, according to Flightaware.

Weather.com said a number of Midwest locales from southeastern South Dakota to southern Wisconsin received a foot of snow of more, and citizens will have to deal with the risk of fallen tree limbs and power lines.

Bella’s “relative lack of moisture and quick-moving nature … should mitigate this from becoming a crippling storm for many,” Weather.com explained, but added, “slow down, leave extra time if you must travel, or consider postponing your trip.” 

By Saturday night, the system will start to move into the Northeast, bringing snow into northern Pennsylvania, Upstate New York and New England as the week starts, per Weather.com.

And, of course, check with your carrier before heading to the airport if flying to or from Chicago.

LIVE Visibility now at zero at Chicago ORD, all airplane ground traffic has ceased https://t.co/rIpAvgGruB pic.twitter.com/xZ2igdjKeN

— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) November 21, 2015

Old Man Winter visited Chicago early. Stay safe, warm and check your flight here: https://t.co/hSJ3Skh5fD pic.twitter.com/wXF1eaFuEW

— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) November 21, 2015

Due to forecast winter weather in the Midwest we’ve issued a waiver; for travel through 11/21. View more info here: https://t.co/YS9FT64vuL.

— Delta Assist (@DeltaAssist) November 21, 2015

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