Holiday travelers scramble to beat blizzard
Airlines delay, cancel flights ahead of snow
Holiday travelers in the Upper Midwest scrambled Sunday to make it home ahead of a major winter storm likely to bring heavy snow, strong winds and travel headaches to a wide swath of the region, including Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports.
The National Weather Service said the storm could produce blizzard conditions in the hardest-hit areas Sunday, which was forecast to be the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Widespread snow of 6 to 12 inches was expected from the Middle Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes, the National Weather Service warned.
Heavy snow was forecast for the Chicago metro area, triggering at least
238 flight delays and 99 cancellations at O’Hare International Airport, a major hub. Airline delays in or out of Chicago are likely to have a ripple effect throughout the nationwide system.
“It has been snowing for awhile in the Rockies, but it’s headed to Chicago,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker.
The snow dropped almost 10 inches in parts of Idaho and Wyoming on Saturday night into Sunday. Jackson, Wyoming, was hit with 9 inches.
Walker said blizzard and near-blizzard conditions were likely from Topeka, Kansas, and Omaha, Nebraska, to Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin. He warned of hazardous driving conditions from major interstates to small back roads.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer declared a statewide disaster emergency. Parts of
I-70 were ordered closed in the state.
“The Kansas Department of Transportation has reported multiple road closures due to visibility,” Colyer said. “We strongly recommend you postpone travel plans due to the conditions if possible.”
In Nebraska, parts of Interstate 80 were closed as snow and crashes snarled the highway.
A mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow in Washington could cause hazardous driving conditions through Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said. Up to 8 inches of snow is likely in the Cascades.
Nationwide, 1,358 flights had been canceled and 13,891 delayed as of
4:30 p.m. EST, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Most of the cancellations were in Chicago and Kansas City. Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver were among other airports hit.
Heavy snow could create delays for travelers into and out of airports in Philadelphia, Detroit and Pittsburgh. The weather led most major airlines to waive change fees.
The fast-moving storm is likely to drop heavy snow on parts of New England by Tuesday, a foot or more in northern New Hampshire and Maine. Temperatures will plummet Monday and Tuesday from the Ohio Valley to the East Coast. Conditions could be as much as
15 to 30 degrees below normal, especially in the middle Mississippi Valley and parts of the Ohio Valley.