[ad_1]
A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the central U.S. on Wednesday as airlines cancelled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses.
The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow, while parts of southwestern Ontario braced for the storm’s impact.
More than 30 centimetres of snow was expected in parts of central Missouri and Michigan, and up to that amount could fall Wednesday and Thursday in central and northeastern Illinois.
Thirty to 45 centimetres of snow was possible in areas of northern Indiana, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service in College Park, Md.
“For a lot of areas, we are going to be looking at significant amounts of snowfall and also ice,” he said.
In Chicago, Elisha Waldman and his sons welcomed the opportunity to hit a sledding hill on Wednesday morning even as snow continued to fall over the city.
“Cold and wet and wonderful, and getting cold and wet is part of the fun with the guys, and we get to go inside and have hot cocoa and warm up,” Waldman said.
Heavy snow Wednesday morning created hazardous travel conditions in some areas.
“We’re receiving a lot of snow over here in northwest Indiana and it’s the wet, slushy snow that causes treacherous driving conditions to say the least,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield told WFLD-TV.
In central Missouri, officials shut down part of Interstate 70.
Areas south of the heavy snow were expected to see freezing rain, with the heaviest ice predicted along the lower Ohio Valley area from Louisville, Ky., to Memphis, Tenn.
The disruptive storm moved across the central U.S. on Groundhog Day, the same day the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. The storm came on the heels of a vicious nor’easter last weekend that brought blizzard conditions to many parts of the U.S. East Coast.
The storm’s path extended as far south as Texas, where nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze buckled the state’s power grid in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott defended the state’s readiness.
The forecast did not call for the same prolonged and frigid temperatures as the February 2021 storm, and the National Weather Service said the system would, generally, not be as bad this time for Texas.
No large-scale power outages were reported by early afternoon Wednesday in Texas or elsewhere, according to poweroutage.us.
Snowfall totals reached 56 centimetres in Colorado Springs, Colo., and up to 25 centimetres in the Denver area, with more expected, prompting universities, state government offices and the state legislature to shut down.
Airlines cancelled more than 1,800 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Wednesday, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed, including more than three-quarters taken off the board in St. Louis. Airports in Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit cancelled more flights than usual and more than 130 flights were cancelled at Denver International Airport.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency as school districts and universities shifted classes to online or cancelled them entirely.
Illinois lawmakers cancelled their three scheduled days of session this week. In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a statewide state of emergency that would remain in effect for seven days.
[ad_2]
Source link