Winterweer in de V.S: Snow, Blizzards and Storms

AMARILLO, Texas — A storm packing heavy snow and howling wind moved north Sunday, knocking out power in homes and making conditions hazardous for holiday travelers.

High wind and ice that coated power lines blacked out tens of thousands of people in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Ice slicked roadways through the region.

"Everything is just an ice rink out there," said Rock County Sheriff's Sergeant Steve Selby in Wisconsin.

Some 74,000 customers were without power in Michigan on Sunday morning, down from 104,000 at the peak, Consumers Energy said. In Illinois, about 58,000 customers were without power in the Chicago metro area and 5,500 others were in the dark in southern and central Wisconsin.

The storm blew heavy snow from Texas to Wisconsin, causing at least five deaths and dozens of injuries as multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways on Saturday.

Much of the region affected by this storm on the Plains was still recovering from a severe ice storm early last week that knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Up to a foot of new snow was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota. Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Strong wind could make traveling hazardous all weekend, said Craig Cogil, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, Iowa. Parts of that state were expected to get as much as 10 inches of snow by Sunday morning, he said.

At least three people in Minnesota and one person each in Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents that authorities said were weather related.

The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. Authorities said it would take a few days to determine exactly how many vehicles were involved.

Eighteen people were taken to hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries, Sgt. Michael Poston said.

"There were cars crashing while they (firefighters) were there," Fire Department Capt. Bob Johnson told the Amarillo Globe-News. "They could hear them (the crashes), but they couldn't see them."

Many were holiday travelers, including families with small children not dressed for the weather, Sgt. Shawn McLeland said. Other drivers spotted them and opened Christmas presents to provide warmer clothing for the children.

Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow.

The Kansas traffic death came in a 30-car pileup about 30 miles west of Topeka that closed a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 70.

The storm also was blamed for a wreck involving 20 to 40 vehicles, including three tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 29 in St. Joseph in western Missouri. Police closed about 100 miles of I-29.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318008,00.html

http://edition.cnn.com/20(...).storm.ap/index.html

quote:

The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. Authorities said it would take a few days to determine exactly how many vehicles were involved.

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Snowstorm Knocks Out Power to Tens of Thousands, Leaves at Least 11 Dead

MILWAUKEE — Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blustered through the region with heavy snow and howling wind.

At least 11 deaths had been blamed on the storm.

Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Sunday as the core of the storm headed north across the Great Lakes. Parts of Wisconsin already had a foot of snow, and up to a foot was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.

Radar showed snow falling across much of Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota on Sunday and moving into parts of Michigan and Indiana.

"Everything is just an ice rink out there," said Sgt. Steve Selby with the sheriff's department in Rock County, Wis.

The weather system also spread locally heavy rain on Sunday from the Southeast to the lower Great Lakes.

The storm rolled through Colorado and Wyoming on Friday, then spread snow and ice on Saturday from the Texas Panhandle to Minnesota. Multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways Saturday in the Plains states.

The area of Madison, Wis., got three to four hours of freezing rain early Sunday, said weather service meteorologist intern Bill Borghoff at Sullivan. The combination of icy pavement and gusty wind made driving treacherous, he said.

"It's quite a mess out there," Borghoff said.

Wind gusting to more than 50 mph uprooted trees in parts of Michigan. "I can see the snow moving basically sideways," meteorologist Wayne Hoepner said in Grand Rapids.

Winds were recorded blowing as fast as 88 mph over Lake Michigan with gusts of 50 to 68 mph across the Chicago region, according to the National Weather Service.

Because of the wind, airlines canceled more than 300 flights Sunday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the city Aviation Department said. Municipal officials said the wind had knocked out nearly 170 traffic signals, and there were more than 500 reports of fallen trees and limbs.

More than 11,000 homes and businesses were without power at some point Saturday in Wisconsin because of the freezing rain, ice, gusty wind and heavy snow, utilities said. Michigan utilities reported some 60,000 customers were still without power Sunday night, and in Illinois about 15,000 customers were blacked out.

At least three people in Minnesota, three in Wyoming, three in Wisconsin and one person each in Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents that authorities said stemmed from the storm.

The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. At least 16 people were taken to hospitals, Sgt. Michael Poston said.

"We're not really sure how many cars, probably in excess of 40 cars and in excess of 20 semitrailers," Amarillo police Sgt. Greg Fisher said Sunday.

Many were holiday travelers, including families with small children not dressed for the weather, Sgt. Shawn McLeland said. Other drivers opened their own Christmas presents to provide warmer clothing for the children.

Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow and slippery pavement. Multi-vehicle wrecks on Saturday also temporarily blocked sections of I-70 in Kansas and I-29 in Missouri.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318008,00.html

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