Storm Hits US Midwest With Snow, Ice, Wind
Pastor Dale Morgan
Storm Hits US Midwest With Snow, Ice, Wind*
Tuesday February 13, 2007 1:46 PM
By TOM DAVIES
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A blast of snow, gusty winds and plunging
temperatures in the Midwest created headaches for travelers Tuesday with
canceled flights and slick, slushy roads.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning from parts of
Iowa and Missouri east to cover most of Illinois and parts of central
and northern Indiana.
The storm - packing strong winds and a blast of Arctic air - was
expected to reach the mid-Atlantic states and New York later Tuesday.
There were 4 inches of snow on the ground at the Indianapolis
International Airport as of 7 a.m., the National Weather Service said,
and a handful of flights were canceled.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport canceled over 400 flights for
Tuesday, according to city aviation department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams.
Midway Airport canceled about 100 flights for Tuesday morning and early
afternoon.
The weather service issued a blizzard warning until midnight for
counties north of Indianapolis and south of South Bend, in the
northernmost part of the state. A winter storm warning was in effect
until midnight in central Indiana.
Officials in Fountain County in west-central Indiana declared a snow
emergency. The county's emergency management director said roads were
closed except for ``extreme emergency traffic.''
``People are sliding off everywhere,'' said county Emergency Management
Director Joe Whittaker.
Snow was forecast to continue into Tuesday night, with accumulations of
up to a foot in a swath across the midsection of the state north of
Interstate 70.
But snow wasn't all the storm had up its sleeve. Freezing rain in
southerly regions was expected to coat surfaces with as much as a
quarter-inch of ice Tuesday, raising the possibility of icy roads and
downed power lines.
Roads in all of Ohio's 88 counties were wet or at least partially
covered in snow early Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Transportation
warned on its Web site. Some flights out of Cincinnati's airport were
canceled.
In northeast Ohio, where morning commuters got an early start to try to
beat the worst weather, meteorologists predicted up to 10 inches of snow
Tuesday and another 10 inches by Wednesday night, when temperatures are
expected to plummet to low single digits. Illinois was expecting
accumulations of 12 inches.
At least two people were killed and more injured in several road
accidents in Nebraska on Monday, as icy roads and blowing snow brought
poor visibility and slick roads across the state.
Four to 6 inches of snow already had blanketed parts of western and
central Nebraska by 10:30 p.m. Monday, said John Springer, meteorologist
with the National Weather Service in North Platte.
In Iowa, up to 6 inches of snow was expected. There were many reports of
blowing and drifting snow causing problems on roads and schools in
central and southern parts of the state were canceled or were delayed by
several hours.
A winter storm watch was posted Tuesday night and Wednesday for all of
western and central New York with the storm system approaching from the
Midwest. Forecasters said the storm could bring 8 to 20 inches of snow
to upstate New York.
The upstate New York town of Redfield is already very familiar with snow
this season. Incomplete records prevent the National Weather Service
from calling the 11 feet, 9 inches of snow that fell there over the past
10 days an official record, but it does beat the 10 feet, 7 inches that
fell in nearby Montague over seven days ending Jan. 1, 2002.
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Associated Press writers William Kates in Redfield, N.Y., and Anna Jo
Bratton in Omaha, Neb. contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com