Snowstorm grounds hundreds of flights across Midwest
A winter storm dumped snow across the Upper Midwest and Lower Great Lakes regions, grounding hundreds of flights and leaving passengers stranded.
A screen displays flight status information at O'Hare International Airport on Sunday in Chicago. The wintry weather has forced airlines to cancel more than 1,000 flights at Midway and O'Hare airports as of late Sunday morning.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
A winter storm system forced the cancellation of more than a thousand flights in and out of Chicago's airports on Sunday, and more snow is on the way.
United Airlines and American Airlines canceled most regional flights and some mainline service out of O'Hare International Airport, the world's fourth-busiest airport. Meanwhile, Southwest Air canceled most of its flights out of Midway International on Sunday evening and Monday morning. All in all, more than 1,390 flights were grounded, NBC News reports.
A winter storm warning went into effect, with total accumulations of up to 10 inches expected by midnight Chicago time, according to the National Weather Service. Elsewhere in the Midwest had experienced as many as 13 inches of snowfall by Sunday morning.
Some passengers grounded in Chicago and elsewhere expressed their frustrations with the situation over social media, including the band One Republic.
"To all our fans in Vegas – we are stuck in Chicago from the snow storm, we are so so sorry," the rock band, which was scheduled to play in Las Vegas on Sunday night, wrote on its Twitter page. "Winter weather...wrecked our plans."
"It might be a long night here at O'Hare Airport," wrote another Twitter user on his way to Boston.
More than 200 flights were also canceled at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. One Delta flight arriving from Buffalo, N.Y., skidded off the runway and ended up in a grassy verge on Sunday afternoon, but no injuries were reported.
Up to 11 inches of snow were expected in some areas of Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reported.
In Chicago, where the winter storm warning cautioned of difficult driving conditions, Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged residents to stay safe.
"We want residents to know city departments are prepared to assist those needing well-being checks, snow removal and other cold-weather services," Mayor Emanuel said in a statement, as reported by Fox 32. "We ask Chicagoans to do their part and shovel sidewalks and help out by checking in on family, friends and neighbors during extremely cold or snowy weather."