Storm blasts central US with snow, wind
MINNEAPOLIS — A storm system stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes buffeted the central U.S. with heavy winds, rain, hail and snow, forcing flight cancellations, creating treacherous road conditions and killing at least three people, including a sleeping 2-year-old Louisiana girl.
In the Upper Midwest, the early spring storm brought snow to a region pining for sunshine and warmth. More than 200 flights were canceled Saturday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and blizzard conditions forced the airport in South Dakota’s biggest city, Sioux Falls, to remain closed for a second straight day.
The Minnesota Twins home game against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field was also snowed out Saturday, marking the first back-to-back postponements of baseball games in the stadium’s nine seasons. The Yankees and Tigers were rained out Saturday in Detroit.
Authorities closed several Workers try to move an industrial freezer over commuter rail tracks in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday. The National Weather Service predicts 9 to 15 inches of snow across a large swath of southern Minnesota by Sunday evening. highways in southwestern Minnesota, where no travel was advised, and driving conditions were difficult across the entire southern half of the state. The National Weather Service predicted that a large swath of southern Minnesota would get 9 to 15 inches of snow by the time the storm blows through on Sunday, though only a few inches had fallen on the area as of
midday Saturday.
“It’s a cool experience for me, the best Minneapolis experience,” said Niko Heiligman, of Aachen, Germany, who braved the snow to take a walk along the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. “I’m only here for the weekend, so I guess that’s how it goes. There’s snow and it’s cold. So it’s good.”
The storm is expected to persist through Sunday in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan before moving into New York state and New England.
The forecast for central Ohio calls for a high in low 60s on Sunday the low 40s on Monday before climbing into the 50s on Tuesday, said Chris Hogue, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
“That’s your cold day, Monday, then heading back to normal after that,” Hogue said.
Across central and northeastern Wisconsin, a band of 6 to 18 inches of snow had fallen by Saturday morning, with another round on the way. A blizzard warning was issued for the northern half of Wisconsin, which was expected to get another 14 inches by Sunday evening. Winds of up to 55 mph caused blowing and drifting snow, along with ice shoves in Green Bay.
The National Weather Service warned of potential coastal flooding along Lake Michigan. The storm system also brought ice to southern Wisconsin, and some areas, including Fond du Lac and Sheboygan, are expected to get a quarter-inch of ice accumulation by Sunday morning.
In Chicago, Lake Michigan waves were expected to reach as high as 18 feet, prompting a flood warning until Sunday along the lakefront.
Snow and wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph whipped through parts of South Dakota for a second-straight day Saturday, causing blizzard conditions that made travel all but impossible.
The storm knocked out power to thousands of customers in Michigan, which was expected to get more snow and ice throughout the weekend. Western Michigan and the state’s Upper Peninsula were getting wind gusts of 50 mph.
Two of the storm-related deaths were in traffic crashes in Nebraska and Wisconsin. Early Saturday in northwestern Louisiana when a storm toppled a tree onto a mobile home in Haughton, killing a sleeping 2-year-old girl inside. Lt. Bill Davis of the Bossier Parish sheriff’s office said four adults and a 15-month-old child were also in the recreational vehicle but weren’t hurt.