CHICAGO (AP) -- Freezing rain is leaving up to a quarter-inch of ice on portions of northern Illinois, canceling hundreds of flights and forcing dozens of schools to close.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Krein says the northern part of the state is receiving most of the ice accumulations from the storm that moved up from the Plains.

At O'Hare International Airport, about 250 flights were canceled Monday morning and another 25 were canceled across town at Midway.

About 17,000 Ameren customers are without power in western Illinois and another 600 ComEd customers are in the dark in northern Illinois.

The back-to-back ice storms are leaving some hardware stores across the state with massive shortages of salt.