Snowstorm brings Midwest to a crawl
CHICAGO – A slow-moving winter storm blanketed a large swath of the Plains and Midwest in snow Sunday, forcing the cancellation of roughly 2,000 flights, making roads treacherous and forcing some people to rethink their plans to attend Super Bowl parties.
Blizzard conditions developed in Chicago – where more than a foot was expected by evening – and other Midwest locales as the system slowly crept eastward into Pennsylvania and western New York state. Parts of New England still digging out from a storm early last week were readying for yet another round of snow to arrive Sunday and last through today.
The snowstorm was expected to be the most far-reaching of the season to date, stretching from Nebraska to Maine, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters also said the storm was moving unusually slowly, meaning accumulations of between 10 to 16 inches of snow are possible for parts of northern Illinois, Indiana and northwest Ohio. Similar amounts of snow are expected for the Northeast later Sunday and throughout today.
“It’s not wise to travel, unless you have an emergency,” said David Beachler, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Chicago area.
More than 1,950 flights were canceled in the Midwest, the vast majority of which were flights in or out of Chicago’s two airports.
Chicago’s Department of Aviation said about 1,400 departing flights were canceled from O’Hare International Airport and 315 at Midway International Airport. At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, more than 350 departing flights were canceled, and more delayed. About 20 flights were canceled from Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.
The winds – gusts up to 45 mph were expected in the Chicago area – made road travel tricky too. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner cautioned against any travel and put state agencies on alert.
In eastern Nebraska, several sections of Interstate 80 were closed Sunday due to accidents in the icy conditions.
The weather led to power outages Sunday, including roughly 18,000 ComEd customers in Illinois, most of them in suburban Chicago. The weather cut power to nearly 8,000 northern Indiana homes and businesses.
In Nebraska, a truck driver and a 62-year-old woman were killed in separate traffic accidents on snowy roads.
Parts of New England – still recovering from a blizzard early last week that buried the region in snow – braced for today.
The weather service said many parts of New England could get between 8 and 14 inches of snow and that parts of western Massachusetts and Connecticut could get as much as 16 inches. Southern Vermont was expected to get its first flakes around 3 a.m. today, and snow should start falling in Concord, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine, a few hours later.
Boston schools were scheduled to be closed today.