CHICAGO — A wet snow forced residents of Chicago and the Midwest to once again break out shovels and slog to work along slippery roads and slow transit lines, a reality check for winter-weary residents who had just reveled in a day or so of springlike temperatures. Along the storm's eastward track, upstate New York was gearing up for a blizzard.
Tens of thousands of homes and businesses in northern Illinois lost power and a few hundred flights were canceled at Chicago's airports, including Midway International, where 6 inches of snow fell. The storm was moving east into northern Indiana, and it was forecast to hit the Great Lakes in Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York before dissipating over Canada.
"The roads were just horrible, it was pretty hazardous conditions out there," said Stephen Rodriguez, National Weather Service meteorologist in Romeoville, Ill. He said an initial forecast for 8 inches of snow in the city was overblown, but that the impact on the morning commute was significant.
Forecasters warned that as much as 9 inches of snow could fall in parts of southeastern Michigan, with 4 to 8 inches in Detroit. Before the sun rose Wednesday, snow and sleet were making roads slippery across a large southern swath of the state. Hundreds of schools closed their doors for the day.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.