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Storm Hits Midwest With Snow, Ice, Wind

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 February 2007, 09:00 CST

By TOM DAVIES

INDIANAPOLIS - 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

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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