Tue Mar 5, 2013 6:07pm EST
* Storm blamed for fatal accidents in Illinois, Wisconsin * More than 1,100 flights canceled in and out of Chicago * Snow and ice make driving difficult in several states (Adds details on rush-hour conditions in Chicago, deadlyaccident near the Indiana border) By James B. Kelleher CHICAGO, March 5 (Reuters) - A deadly late winter stormdumped heavy snow on the Midwestern United States on Tuesday,contributing to numerous automobile accidents on highways andflight cancellations as it moved east toward the Ohio Valley andthe mid-Atlantic states. In Chicago, where the National Weather Service issued awinter storm warning effective through midnight, residentsgirded for between 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of snow - much ofit expected to fall during the evening commute. As rush hour began, wind-whipped snow was falling at a heavyrate throughout the Chicago area, according to the IllinoisState Patrol, reducing visibility to less than half a mile andcausing heavy delays on roads in the region. Monique Bond, a spokeswoman with the Illinois State Patrol,said bad weather may have been a contributing factor in a deadlycrash on Interstate Highway 70 in Marshall, Illinois near theIndiana border. A female driver headed east on I-70 crossed the median andcrashed into a westbound tanker trunk. The driver of the car andher young child died in the accident. Most of the other weather-related incidents the state patrolresponded to on Tuesday were spinouts involving single vehicles,Bond said. More than 1,100 flights were canceled in and out ofChicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, according to the ChicagoDepartment of Aviation. Another 107 more were canceled atMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to theFlightAware.com flight tracking service. At a late morning press conference hosted by Chicago MayorRahm Emanuel, the city's Office of Emergency Management &Communications said nearly 300 snow plows were working to keepthe city's 4,100 miles of roads clear. Southwest Airlines canceled all of its flights in and out ofChicago's Midway Airport through 6 p.m. as a precaution, theChicago Department of Aviation said. Hundreds of schools were closed in northern Illinois,according to local media. But for the more than 400,000 studentsenrolled in Chicago's public school system, the nation'sthird-largest school district, normal class schedules were ineffect, according to the district. Roads in northwest Illinois had patches of ice and snow onTuesday and road crews were bracing in northeast Illinois forthe storm, which began dropping snow on Chicago near the middleof the morning rush hour. Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police,said that as of noon Central time, there were no serious crashesanywhere in the state and no traffic accident fatalities blamedon the storm. In western Wisconsin, a semi-tractor flipped off anInterstate 94 bridge and fully submerged in the Red Cedar Riverin Menomonie early Tuesday, said Christine Ouellete, a WisconsinTransportation Department spokeswoman. Wisconsin rescue crews recovered the body of a man thoughtto be the driver of the truck and were searching for the body ofhis co-driver, who was presumed dead, State Patrol LieutenantJeff Lorentz said. Wisconsin's transportation department listed numerous roadsas snow-covered or slippery from the storm across southwesternWisconsin, but no road closings. Slick roads contributed to numerous crashes and a slowcommute across the border in Minnesota. Driving conditionsremained difficult along highways in parts of North Dakota. Minnesota's public safety department reported 122 crashes,but no fatalities from the storm so far. Several spots aroundthe Twin Cities area reported nine inches of snow and drivingconditions on highways throughout the Twin Cities were stilllisted as "difficult" hours after the storm passed through. The storm was expected to move eastward over the Ohio Valleyand then the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states onWednesday, hitting Washington with its biggest snowfall inpossibly two years, the National Weather Service said. Winter storm warnings were in effect for all or parts of 16states from the Upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday,National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro said. The storm was forecast to move across Ohio and the TennesseeValley and merge with a developing storm off the mid-Atlanticstates that could produce heavy, wet snow overnight and throughWednesday into the mid-Atlantic states that could bring downtrees and power lines, Vaccaro said. "It will be a wet, heavy, gloppy snow consistent withwallpaper paste," he said. (Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis, JaneSutton in Miami and Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by DoinaChiacu, Andrew Hay and Bernard Orr)
* Storm blamed for fatal accidents in Illinois, Wisconsin * More than 1,100 flights canceled in and out of Chicago * Snow and ice make driving difficult in several states (Adds details on rush-hour conditions in Chicago, deadlyaccident near the Indiana border) By James B. Kelleher CHICAGO, March 5 (Reuters) - A deadly late winter stormdumped heavy snow on the Midwestern United States on Tuesday,contributing to numerous automobile accidents on highways andflight cancellations as it moved east toward the Ohio Valley andthe mid-Atlantic states. In Chicago, where the National Weather Service issued awinter storm warning effective through midnight, residentsgirded for between 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) of snow - much ofit expected to fall during the evening commute. As rush hour began, wind-whipped snow was falling at a heavyrate throughout the Chicago area, according to the IllinoisState Patrol, reducing visibility to less than half a mile andcausing heavy delays on roads in the region. Monique Bond, a spokeswoman with the Illinois State Patrol,said bad weather may have been a contributing factor in a deadlycrash on Interstate Highway 70 in Marshall, Illinois near theIndiana border. A female driver headed east on I-70 crossed the median andcrashed into a westbound tanker trunk. The driver of the car andher young child died in the accident. Most of the other weather-related incidents the state patrolresponded to on Tuesday were spinouts involving single vehicles,Bond said. More than 1,100 flights were canceled in and out ofChicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, according to the ChicagoDepartment of Aviation. Another 107 more were canceled atMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to theFlightAware.com flight tracking service. At a late morning press conference hosted by Chicago MayorRahm Emanuel, the city's Office of Emergency Management &Communications said nearly 300 snow plows were working to keepthe city's 4,100 miles of roads clear. Southwest Airlines canceled all of its flights in and out ofChicago's Midway Airport through 6 p.m. as a precaution, theChicago Department of Aviation said. Hundreds of schools were closed in northern Illinois,according to local media. But for the more than 400,000 studentsenrolled in Chicago's public school system, the nation'sthird-largest school district, normal class schedules were ineffect, according to the district. Roads in northwest Illinois had patches of ice and snow onTuesday and road crews were bracing in northeast Illinois forthe storm, which began dropping snow on Chicago near the middleof the morning rush hour. Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police,said that as of noon Central time, there were no serious crashesanywhere in the state and no traffic accident fatalities blamedon the storm. In western Wisconsin, a semi-tractor flipped off anInterstate 94 bridge and fully submerged in the Red Cedar Riverin Menomonie early Tuesday, said Christine Ouellete, a WisconsinTransportation Department spokeswoman. Wisconsin rescue crews recovered the body of a man thoughtto be the driver of the truck and were searching for the body ofhis co-driver, who was presumed dead, State Patrol LieutenantJeff Lorentz said. Wisconsin's transportation department listed numerous roadsas snow-covered or slippery from the storm across southwesternWisconsin, but no road closings. Slick roads contributed to numerous crashes and a slowcommute across the border in Minnesota. Driving conditionsremained difficult along highways in parts of North Dakota. Minnesota's public safety department reported 122 crashes,but no fatalities from the storm so far. Several spots aroundthe Twin Cities area reported nine inches of snow and drivingconditions on highways throughout the Twin Cities were stilllisted as "difficult" hours after the storm passed through. The storm was expected to move eastward over the Ohio Valleyand then the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states onWednesday, hitting Washington with its biggest snowfall inpossibly two years, the National Weather Service said. Winter storm warnings were in effect for all or parts of 16states from the Upper Midwest to the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday,National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro said. The storm was forecast to move across Ohio and the TennesseeValley and merge with a developing storm off the mid-Atlanticstates that could produce heavy, wet snow overnight and throughWednesday into the mid-Atlantic states that could bring downtrees and power lines, Vaccaro said. "It will be a wet, heavy, gloppy snow consistent withwallpaper paste," he said. (Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis, JaneSutton in Miami and Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by DoinaChiacu, Andrew Hay and Bernard Orr)
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