Storm packing freezing rain, snow moving across U.S.
CHICAGO >> 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 canceled thousands of flights, officials 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.
By midday Wednesday, some places had already reported snow totals exceeding or nearing a foot, including the central Illinois town of Lewistown with 14.4 inches and the northeastern Missouri city of Hannibal with 11.5 inches.
“And it’s still snowing across these areas,” said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
Central Illinois and northern Indiana appeared likely to receive the most snowfall, with expected totals ranging from 12 to 18 inches by the end of today, Orrison said.
Snow had begun to taper off in Missouri by early afternoon but much of the state could wind up with 8 inches to a foot of snow. Parts of Michigan also could snow totals around a foot by Thursday.
For those on the roads, the heavy snow created hazardous conditions.
“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 midday.
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, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee.
The storm’s path extended as far south as Texas, nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze buckled the state’s power grid in one of the worst blackouts in U.S. history. The forecast did not call for the same prolonged and frigid temperatures as the February 2021 storm.
Snowfall totals reached 22 inches in Colorado Springs and up to 10 inches in the Denver area, with more expected, prompting universities, state government offices and the Legislature to shut down.
Airlines canceled nearly 5,000 flights in the U.S. scheduled for Wednesday or today, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed. Airports in St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit canceled more flights than usual and more than 130 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport.