[ad_1]
CHICAGO – The Great Plains were widening, the Great Lakes were walled and the Northeast was preparing for the impact on Saturday, while a huge snowstorm swept the northern states.
The storm complicated travel and prevented planning on the weekend of three days in much of the country caused trouble from Kansas, where the governor declared an emergency, until New England , where forecasters predicted up to two feet of snow and warned against avalanches.
The fallout was bleak: thousands canceled flights, prolonged power outages and severe warnings to avoid roads in cities like Chicago, where downtown was remarkably quiet on Saturday morning, as plows were trying to deal with the accumulation of snow. 19659004] "You want to hit hard while it hits you," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday night as the storm approached his city.
The heaviest snow at noon until Saturday fell from the north. Illinois in Ohio and southern Michigan, according to Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. In the west, where the storm had hit Friday, more than one foot had been recorded in parts of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.
As the storm spread to the east, where it is expected that it will worsen, Mr. Otto said that he should have a snowfall. from northern Pennsylvania through central New York and into the interior regions of New England. Other places, especially those located to the south and closer to the coast, should receive a winter cocktail of snow, slush, rain and ice, followed by a temperature in free fall.
Parts of Massachusetts could see up to a foot of snow,
"It's a complex storm," said Mr. Otto, who said that "the kitchen sink," composed of mixed precipitation, was caused by a combination of cold air from Canada and low pressure from
"There could be a major ice storm for residents of parts of the Appalachians in Pennsylvania", said Mr. Otto.
The storm continued to move rapidly and was not expected to persist in the northeast. Mr Otto said he was expecting the worst to move after New York, where it was only expected two or three inches, by Sunday morning. In New England, the storm was to pass Sunday night.
As in any storm, the offices of the National Meteorological Service of the country were busy providing forecasts and detailed updates. But this time, their meteorologists were doing without pay, victim of the closure of the federal government.
"Morale is definitely undermined," said Ray Martin, senior meteorologist at the Washington and Baltimore Meteorological Service's office. "There is a little trouble at ease."
Mr. Martin, who is the union leader of his union, said that he had used the money he was saving to improve his house to make up for the shortfall. He said he knew colleagues with young children or a new house in difficulty.
Although the blizzard is not really surprising – it's January, after all – its impact has been scary. At Omaha Airport, the airport closed a little Friday after a Southwest Airlines plane slipped off the runway after landing.
After a bumpy descent, the plane seemed to arrive on the side just before the landing, said Benny Salz, passenger. on the flight. He hit the ground violently, the right side of the plane landing first. After flying over the tail a bit, the plane slid into the grass just off the runway, said Mr. Salz, a 30-year-old music producer and performer, living in Los Angeles.
"People were really panicked when we landed," he said. .
In Kansas, the state's Transportation Department said one of its drivers died Saturday morning in an accident south of Kansas City.
Authorities urged drivers to take precautions. In Missouri, the transportation department said "roads are always slippery" and "people are still driving too fast for today's conditions". In New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has banned semitrailers and buses in most stormy highways. In the state of Illinois, soldiers said trucks and cars had slipped on icy highways.
"If there is a weekend where to stay and watch something from time to time, this may be the case," said Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey. declared state of emergency as of Saturday noon.
More than 3,200 flights have been canceled so far, according to the FlightAware Flight Tracking Site. But some people have managed to find the right tone in the midst of chaos.
While Jennifer Hartwell was in full flight from Austin to Detroit on Friday night, she found that her connecting flight to Indianapolis had been delayed until the next morning. She sent an SMS to her husband from the plane, asking her to reserve a rental car, and then asked a flight attendant to check if other passengers wished to make the four-hour trip with her. .
Three other passengers took her . One of them was racing to return home because of a death in the family and would have missed a memorial service if she had been waiting for the flight delayed, said Dr. Hartwell, trauma surgeon. .
Upon arrival in Indianapolis, California. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, the woman's father going to the memorial service kissed Dr. Hartwell.
"Thank you very much for bringing my daughter home," he said through tears.
Ms. Hartwell, 41, said, "You can create a meaningful connection to people and make the most of the situation."
[ad_2]
Source link
