Freeze blasts Midwest, Northeast

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Winter returned with a vengeance Tuesday to the Upper Midwest and Northeast, with snow and below-zero temperatures snarling commutes, canceling flights and closing schools.

More than 140 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport, and authorities in Minnesota pulled 24 vehicles and four semitrailer trucks out of the ditch from a single pileup.

The weather left some interstates around Indianapolis virtually impassable during the evening rush hour, and the Cincinnati city manager asked downtown employers to let nonessential employees leave early.

Arctic air stretched from the northern Plains through New England – reaching a low of 31 below in Cook, Minn. – and temperatures were below zero as far south as the mountains of West Virginia. At least 11 deaths are blamed on slippery roads and the cold.

The cold wind picked up moisture from the Great Lakes, creating squalls that have dumped 3 to 4 feet of snow this week on parts of New York state at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where winter had few teeth until this week.

The bitter cold and winds forced dozens of schools in New York, Wisconsin and Michigan to close for a second day, including districts in Buffalo, Rochester and Milwaukee.

In West Virginia, classes were called off or delayed in all 55 counties, and Kentucky school districts – including Louisville and Lexington – closed early because of snow. Most Cincinnati-area schools also let out early.

New York state troopers closed a section of Interstate 81 east of Oswego for an hour to remove cars and trucks that went off the road when blowing snow reduced visibility to zero. Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said hundreds of vehicles slid off the pavement.

“I live about four miles down the road. It took me about 50 minutes to an hour to get here,” said Gus Maunder of Parish.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported 290 crashes during rush-hour traffic Tuesday, including 236 in the Twin Cities area.

Ferry service was suspended on the Hudson River in upstate New York because the water began freezing over.

In West Virginia, which saw some of its coldest weather in a decade, a frozen water pipe forced about 35 residents of a senior citizens complex in Nitro to seek shelter at a church, emergency officials said.

In Chicago, city crews were responding to more than 1,000 reports of frozen pipes, said Department of Water Management spokesman Tom LaPorte.