Winter Storm Sweeps Across The Midwest

Snow, Ice Close Airports And Roads; At Least Three Deaths Blamed On Weather

(CBS/AP)  Snow and ice plastered a wide area of the Midwest on Saturday, interrupting campaigning by presidential hopefuls, disrupting airport and highway traffic and killing at least three people.

The National Weather Service posted winter storm and ice warnings across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the eastern Dakotas, Illinois and northern Michigan, although some warnings were lifted later in the day. In Minnesota, Duluth received nearly 8 inches of snow.

Much of Iowa was hit by snow, sleet and freezing rain. Temperatures warmed to above freezing by evening, helping to melt away much of the ice and sleet that had accumulated, said Ken Podrazik, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at airports in Des Moines, Chicago and Milwaukee. Officials decided to close Des Moines International Airport for several hours after a United Airlines plane slid off a taxiway as it was heading to a runway for a flight to Chicago's O'Hare, said airport spokesman Roy Criss. He said none of the 44 passengers was injured and the airport reopened by mid-afternoon.

At Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., an incoming Mesa Airlines regional jet flying for United Express slid off the pavement after failing to make a turn onto a taxiway, but no injuries were reported among the 25 passengers, said United Airlines spokesman Jeff Vick.

Madison was expecting three inches of snow and overnight wind gusts of up to 30 mph, an outlook so bleak that even meteorologists were postponing their own events. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences department postponed its annual Solstice Party, which was set for Saturday, until February.

"This is the most treacherous kind of weather that the weather can deliver," said department chairman Jonathan Martin.

The storm also complicated plans for some presidential hopefuls drumming up support for the Jan. 3 caucuses that kick off the nomination process.

Republican Mitt Romney canceled three campaign stops planned Saturday in southern Iowa, and former President Clinton canceled a rally for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, scheduled Saturday afternoon outside Des Moines.

Podrazik said some rain and freezing drizzle was expected overnight, turning to flurries on Sunday. He said travel could remain troublesome through early Sunday as temperatures fall, causing roads to refreeze. He also said gusty wind also could be a problem.

In the mountains of western Colorado, the storm dumped up to two feet of snow, bringing moisture to a region that had been thirsting for it.

A half foot of snow in Beaver Creek forced organizers to postpone a men's World Cup super-G skiing event from Saturday to Monday.

Eastbound Interstate 70 was closed for about three hours Saturday night leading up to Vail Pass in the mountains due to accidents on icy, snowpacked roads.

Heavy ice accumulations on power lines blacked out more than 14,000 customers scattered around Iowa, said representatives of for Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy. Thousands more were without power near Galesburg, Ill., Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said.

In Indiana, a van carrying Purdue University's ice hockey team rolled over on an ice-slickened highway about 20 miles southwest of West Lafayette, killing one team member and injuring seven others, school officials said.

A man died when his Jeep hit a semitrailer on a highway north of Madison, Wis., authorities said. Vehicles had been slowing after another semitrailer tipped on its side as the driver tried to exit the highway.

On an icy interstate near Wellington, Colo., a van slid off the road, rolled and struck a fence. One passenger was thrown from the vehicle and died, while the driver and two other passengers were injured, police said.

Numerous accidents were reported on Iowa highways, said Transportation Department spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher.

Many travelers checked into motels to wait out the storm in the northern Iowa city of Clear Lake, but Lake Country Inn manager Linda Lorenz said she was surprised by the numbers of vehicles that stayed on the highways.

"They're still going," Lorenz said. "I don't know why they aren't home, I'm not leaving."

Freezing rain coated Illinois highways with ice, causing spinouts and accidents, weather officials said. Ice was about a quarter-inch thick in parts of central Illinois, said weather service meteorologist Dan Kelly.

More than 400 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport and 25 were reported at Midway International Airport, said Gregg Cunningham, a spokesman for Chicago's Department of Aviation. Flights at O'Hare were delayed 40 to 60 minutes, with times expected to increase.

"The snow has turned over more to freezing rain, so the weather and low visibility is causing those delays," Cunningham said.

About 30,000 Ameren customers in Illinois were without power as ice built up on power lines; all but 1,000 of those customers had their power restored by the end of the day, however, said Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris.

Many parts of Minnesota reported difficult driving conditions by early afternoon, the state Department of Transportation reported. Snow mixed with sleet along the Interstate 90 corridor across the southern edge of the state and visibility was down a quarter-mile in places.

Snow with wind of 20 to 25 mph reduced visibility in southeastern South Dakota and brought cancellations of regular weekend activities such as YMCA basketball, church practices, high school athletics and community events. One Sioux Falls television station had posted 43 event cancellations and postponements on its Web site by noon.

In Nebraska, thousands of people were without power at the height of the storm.

Omaha Public Power District spokesman Mike Jones said that 5,600 total customers had been without electricity in the metro area, but that was cut to 1,900 by 2:30 p.m.

Nebraska Public Power District spokeswoman Beth Boesch said 200 customers scattered across the state had been in the dark, but only 30 were still powerless by mid-afternoon.

In North Dakota, snowy conditions caused numerous accidents, among them a crash on Interstate 94 in Fargo that involved a dozen vehicles including a passenger bus, Highway Patrol Capt. Jim Prochniak said.

Vehicles are "bumping into one another like pingpong balls out there," he said.

The weather also caused the search for two missing Illinois women to be called off after four hours of searching Saturday. More than 200 people scoured parts of Romeoville for Stacy Peterson, 23, who disappeared over a month ago from her Bolingbrook home, and 38-year-old Lisa Stebic, of Plainfield, who was reported missing in April.

[michellem99-2009]

I was born and grew in Maine. I miss it but not the snow . In the 60s and 70s it really snowed. I had to shovel it. I was a girl at that. I still have family there even tho live I in Seattle .
Gramma trust me yer would not want to live in Hawaii as my roommate grew up there. Ye could not afford to stay there. I hate ice too as yer know as well I told my friend I don''t want to break a bone much worse a hip. I CAN''T WALK ON ICE. I am lost when it shows. I got stuuk in the snow and ice,my friend had me carry a cell.Fine. I called him from a store but turnt the bloody thing off by err. I can boot my computer. I was scared out there. So thankfully I got help. I got home told my friend I can''t reboot a cell. I hardly use it. I am careful as not to lose it.It is hard to walk in it as a legally blind white cane user. Everything is white and land marks are gone.

[noaanhc]

We here in Maine are next in the line of fire from this storm,could get from 12 to 18 inches of snow.

Instead of going to Hawaii let''s all go to Australia for Summer arrives there December 21.

[grammawhamma]

Fricking winter in Wisconsin. Just had seven inches of drifting snow and now freezing rain is coming down. Only 4 and a half more months of winter left.

Wish I could move to Hawaii. White sand is much more appealing to me then white snow!

[me4prezz]

Here in Michigan, we just wait 5 minutes for the season to change. We don''t have season changes 4 times a year, we have them in 5 minute increments. Actually, there are ally only two seasons here: Winter and Construction!

As long as we got salt and a shovel, we are good to go!

[michellem99-2009]

The snow is pretty. I live in Seattle. It generally don''t snow.It snowed here today. I walk every where. I got stuck in it when it got thick and icy. I can''t walk in snow as a legally blind white cane user. I hate to be in it. Most persons don''t know how to safely drive in it. I grew up in Maine and the winders were snowny and fun. Please be safe.

[Wookiee-1138]

This is news? It''s a regular occurrence this time of year here in MN.

[cfin5]

Years ago my flight did a stop over in Chicago. At the time it was snowing so bad I could barely tell there was a light out on the wing. Man, we hit that runway so hard I thought it was enough to snap the wings off. We bounced a few times it seems and the reverse thrusters were on till the plane stopped. Needless for me to say no more flying in the winter.......No sir!

[ubrew12]

Global Warming was never about ''warming''. Its about ''heating''. That''s what happens when you prevent heat from leaving the earth (IR energy absorbed by increased CO2 levels): the earth heats up. There are TWO WAYS something can heat up: it can warm, and it can change phase (ice to water, or water to water vapor).

Global ''warming'' is about heating, and heating (in this case) is about changing phase. Who, after all, cares if the world warms by 2-4 F in the next century? But, if sea levels rise 10 feet, or there''s INCREASED snowfall in the upper midwest, and drought in the lower... WHO DOESN''T CARE!!!!

Figure it out, right-wingers, and quit posting your bvllshit!!

[Hybdiesel]

Hang in there folks. Al Gore will make that place a tropical paradise, in just a few more years.

[idlepugilist]

Maybe Minnesotans will see another White Christmas for a change. This has not been typical here in MN for several years.

[goldesprit]

YES this is typical weather in that part of the country.

[denn034]

This native Californian hates the snow.

This is typical weather in that part of the country. It''s December and it will happen. In 1989, the last day of October, we had three inches of ice in Oklahoma. In 2002, we had the same thing. A typical patter in the earth''s way of cleansing itself. Nothing to panic about.

[hypnotoad72]

ibsteve2u - agreed, but what happened between 1999 and 2003? Apart from the rise of "reality" shows, of course?

[hypnotoad72]

The last week has seen unseasonably cold temperatures...

It''ll be nice to have snow on the ground again to match.

Unfortunately, it also means the idiots will be on the road. The moment one snowflake is seen do people go crazy. Even Chicken Little, even when doped up on crack, wouldn''t be so freaked out by the weather.

But I will say this: The only thing more destructive than an obtuse mental midget behind the wheel during a snowstorm is an unleashed child running around in a store without any supervision. (or children rolling around on those shoe/roller skate hybrid things -- of which the so-called "inventor" should be locked up and the parents put on a desert island...)

[missingamerica]

Who will step forward to be the champion of "man-caused global cooling"?

Posted by Prinzowhales at 02:28 PM : Dec 01, 2007

From http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/feb/global.html:

"There is little difference between the 5 warmest boreal winter seasons on record for the globe (1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2006)."

You''re drawing a conclusion from one storm? You must get a lot of invitations to play poker...

[prinzowhales]

Who will step forward to be the champion of "man-caused global cooling"?