Blizzard conditions, from Kansas to Wisconsin, close schools

The first major snowstorm of the season shuttered schools in Missouri, and cut power to 30,000 people in Iowa. Chicago, Milwaukee, and Michigan are expecting as much as a foot of snow Thursday.

|
(AP Photo/The World-Herald, Alyssa Schukar)
Don Hunter shovels outside of Gerda's German Restaurant and Bakery in Omaha Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. Overnight, the storm dumped a foot of snow in the area and caused power outages in Iowa.

The Midwest's first major snowstorm of the season was sweeping across several states early Thursday, shuttering schools, creating treacherous roadways and threatening to slow down one of the nation's busiest airports ahead of the holiday weekend.

Forecasters warned that heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds would create blizzard conditions for morning commuters from Kansas to Wisconsin.

Nebraska's largest school district canceled classes because of heavy overnight snow, as did many districts across Iowa, where drivers were being told to stay off the roads starting Wednesday evening because of whiteout conditions.

But Iowa native Laurie Harry said the weather likely wouldn't stop her from starting up her car Thursday morning.

"If I need to get into work, I'll be here," said Harry, a manager at a Casey's General Store in the western Iowa town of Atlantic. "We've had snow before. Iowans know what to expect. We're used to it."

The heaviest snow is expected across a swath extending from northwest Missouri into Milwaukee, Chicago and Michigan, with predictions of as much as a foot of snow in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Before the storm, several cities in the Midwest had broken records for the number of consecutive days without measurable snow.

In Iowa, more than 30,000 people were without electricity due to the storm, reports CNN.

In Kansas City, schools were closed as were parts of Interstate 29 near St. Joseph and Kansas City International Airport early Thursday because of traffic accidents, reports KCTV-5.

Light snow, strong winds and low clouds could make visibility poor and cause delays at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the nation's second-busiest airport, according to the National Weather Service. The weather has already prompted Delta and United Airlines to allow many affected travelers to change schedules without incurring fees.

By Wednesday night, snow had blanketed parts of Iowa and Nebraska as the storm moved out of eastern Colorado and across parts of Kansas. Several states were reporting numerous traffic accidents, including one fatality in Nebraska.

"There are a few truckers stranded here. And we have some semis that have rolled over and we have some that have jackknifed," said Ashley Brozek, a clerk at the Eagle Travel Center in the western Kansas town of Tribune. "We also have a UPS driver that is stranded and a local family has let him in for the night."

In Madrid, about 30 miles north of Des Moines, auto repair shop owner Steve Simmons said he had a busy Wednesday morning with customers looking for snow tires ahead of the storm.

"Everybody seems to wait to the last minute for this kind of thing," he said. And he was also expecting a busy Thursday snowplowing several churches and private businesses.

"The bad weather usually benefits me greatly," he said.

Meteorologist Kris Sanders explained "it's a pretty strong system that is coming out of the Rockies," where the storm dumped a foot of snow — a gift for ski resorts in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah ahead of the busy holiday week — before moving east.

The moisture was being welcomed by farmers in the drought-parched region, but Sanders said the storm wouldn't make much of a dent. In Kansas, for example, some areas are more than 12 inches below normal precipitation for the year.

"It's not going to have a big effect, maybe only a half-inch of liquid precipitation. It's not helping us out much," the meteorologist said.

Sanders said another storm similar to the current one could bring additional snow on Christmas or the day after.

___

John Milburn reported from Topeka, Kan. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo.; Colleen Slevin in Denver; and Erin Gartner in Chicago also contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Blizzard conditions, from Kansas to Wisconsin, close schools
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1220/Blizzard-conditions-from-Kansas-to-Wisconsin-close-schools
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe