The blizzard of early 1979 that essentially crippled Chicago was arguably the worst blizzard to affect that city. What made that blizzard so bad was the lack of pre-positioning of snow fighting equipment to deal with the blizzard (which mean snow clearing proved to be a tedious, slow-going process), not to mention over a month of brutal cold after the blizzard, which meant the snow didn't melt at all. It was that blizzard that cost Michael Bilandic the Chicago mayoral election at the end of February 1979.
Indeed, the persistent cold didn't finally break until the middle of March 1979, which finally melted the snow, allowing the city to finally recover.
There was so much snow on the ground that year. Cars on the side streets were completely covered for weeks. We still had snow on the ground through late April/early May. Chicago Mayors run scared when it comes to snow storms especially during an election year.