More die in Midwest, but weather improves

MILWAUKEE – Sunny conditions on Monday helped road crews deal with the remnants of a blustery snowstorm that blacked out thousands of homes and businesses and was blamed for at least 22 traffic deaths in the upper Midwest.

Sgt. Michael Melgaard of the Wisconsin State Patrol in Eau Claire said driving conditions improved substantially for holiday travelers.

“The roads were clear for the most part and traffic was moving at normal speeds,” he said Monday afternoon. “It seemed like there was a lot of steady holiday traffic, but it’s starting to wane now as people are getting to their destinations.”

The weekend-long blast of ice and windblown snow led to multicar pileups that closed sections of several major highways on the Plains.

Authorities say a woman died in Maple Valley Township, Mich., about 60 miles north of Detroit, after she lost control of her truck and it rolled into a ditch filled with water. The woman was trapped in the overturned truck, said police who discovered the wreck Monday morning.

Up to 15 inches of snow fell over the weekend on parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which typically gets heavy snow, and freezing drizzle glazed some highways Monday morning in counties along Lake Michigan.

The storm system had blown out to sea Monday morning, but in its wake wind blowing at 25 mph picked up moisture from Lake Erie to create lake-effect snow in Buffalo, N.Y. Five to 10 inches of snow was possible there and in other parts of western New York by this morning, the weather service said.

In Chicago, some 250 travelers stayed overnight Sunday at O’Hare International Airport after 300 flights were canceled because of high winds. The airport set up cots for travelers, and flights were running smoothly Monday, airport spokesman Gregg Cunningham said.

In Michigan, 15,700 customers were still without power on Monday, while scattered outages remained in Illinois Monday evening, utility representatives said.

Accidents on highways slippery with snow and ice killed at least eight people in Minnesota, five in Wisconsin, three in Indiana, three in Wyoming, and one each in Texas and Kansas.