Blizzard in the United States: canceled flights, closed schools and roads

It's Monday and people are starting to push through snow drifts after heavy snow caused chaos across suburbs, leading to school closures, treacherous road conditions and hundreds of canceled flights across the country.

Фото: Depositphotos

Sunday's snowstorm led to worsening weather conditions in Kansas, with blizzard and snow warnings issued as the storm moved north through the Midwest into New England, according to the National Weather Service.

Several suburban school districts decided to cancel classes and extracurricular activities on Monday - including schools from Elgin, Schaumburg, St. Charles, Gurnee, Grayslake, Antioch and Algonquin.

Absolute insanity in northeast KS 10: 05am. Denton, KS. Power is out in town. #KSwx @NWSKansasCity pic.twitter.com/HvXL6f53Cc

- Basehunters Chasing (@Basehunters) November 25, 2018

The storm caused numerous cancellations at Kansas City and Chicago airports over the weekend, which were supposed to carry a record number of passengers in more than twelve years, when people flew home after Thanksgiving, notes NPR.org.

The meteorological service claims that the storm will continue to rage in northwestern Missouri, northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin, before heading to New England.

On Sunday, over 1270 flights across the country were canceled. On Monday morning, about 5 thousands more flights were delayed.

Here's a #GOESEast/#GOES16 low water wide loop #WinterStorm & #Blizzard warnings overnight. pic.twitter.com/N78wUM3Ij4

- UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) November 26, 2018

Chicago O'Hare Airport, a central air hub for the entire Midwest, was faced with massive cancellations of departures and arrivals - 801 flights were canceled on Sunday and another 300 were delayed.

Rick Galloway, who was planning to fly with three family members to Kansas City, said that the two flights for which he and his family had tickets were canceled.

“We were warned on Friday that we needed to change our original flight,” he said. “We made changes and then that flight was canceled this morning, and then we made additional changes and then this change was also cancelled.” Now we have new tickets - and we are waiting for our gate to be called.”

Joining @ChicagoOEMC, @Fly2Ohare, @StreetsandSan, & @ChiPubSchools This will be the first blizzard on the phone. Sign up at https://t.co/IcNwqvFrjA weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/hgmkafQHmL

- Mayor Rahm Emanuel (@ChicagosMayor) November 26, 2018

Annie Altaf from Connecticut sat at the terminal at the time of the interview and fed her 16-month-old daughter, waiting for the flight. At the weekend she flew to the wedding of her brother. The departure time has changed three times since.

“We have a small child, and it is very difficult to bear the cancellation of flights, we have to return home,” she said. “She’s difficult to travel with and we can’t sit in the airport all night.”

The snowfall set a record of 5,3 inches (13 cm) in Kansas City—the previous record was 3,9 inches (9,5 cm) in 1895, according to Newsweek.

The storm had to close 235 miles (376 km) of the 70 federal highway in Kansas for several hours on Sunday, as well as part of the 29 highway from Mound City, Missouri, to the state border with Iowa.

On Sunday afternoon, Kansas Governor Jeff Koyer declared a state of emergency.

“We strongly recommend postponing your travel plans,” he said in a statement, noting that the region was experiencing gusty winds and blizzard conditions.

The Kansas Department of Emergency Management has received several reports of drivers throwing their cars stuck in the snow.

“Traffic crews may not notice you due to visibility issues. Stay in your vehicle,” Coyer said.

According to the statement, the National Guard of Kansas sent nine aid teams to those stuck in snow in cars across the state.

According to preliminary data, different parts of the state will receive from 2 to 12 inches (cm 5-30) of snow. Strong gusts of wind speeds over 55 miles per hour (88 km / h) caused more than 67 000 power outages in Kansas.

As the storm passed through Kansas on Sunday evening, the National Meteorological Service lifted snowstorm warnings from the state and announced them in parts of northeastern Missouri, including St. Louis, and in northern Illinois, including Chicago and southeastern Wisconsin.

The Collaborative Rain, Snow and Hail Network communities in Chicago recorded between 3 and 10 inches of snow overnight. The website states that Elk Grove Village, Roselle, St. Charles and Schaumburg received 7,5 inches or more, while Palatine received about 25 inches and Gurnee and Mundelein received 10 inches or more.

Of course it's a Monday ...#Chicagosnow pic.twitter.com/2d8cQUFcHP

- StuckinIL (@ mjamgb22) November 26, 2018

Kevin Donofrio, of the National Weather Service, said that in early Monday, areas in the north and west of Chicago encountered the heaviest snowfall over the past night. In Rockford 11,7 inches of snow fell, in Woodstock 11,5 inches, writes Daily herald.

The National Weather Service warned of heavy drifts and snow storms across much of the Chicago area as early as Sunday. Forecasters also predicted "extremely hazardous" travel conditions and urged drivers to stay home.

Rain and winter precipitation in the suburbs during the night turned into a serious snowfall with a strong wind, according to the meteorological service. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, roads in the Chicago area are fully or partially covered with snow or ice.

In response to the storm, Illinois deployed its full fleet of 196 snowplows.

Drivers whose vehicles are stuck in snow or on ice must dial * 999 from a mobile phone to call for help from the Illinois state police station.

The local grid operator opened the Emergency Operations Center and mobilized more staff in preparation for power outages. Maps show hundreds of disconnected points, ranging from Lake and McHenry counties to Dupane, Kane and Cook counties.

According to Donofrio, by the end of Monday the blizzard will leave the region and the winds will decrease. The blizzard will move to the northeast and will drop large masses of snow, passing through the Great Lakes to New England in the first half of the week.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Snowfall in the east of the USA: 8 dead, hundreds of thousands without electricity

Shocking treefall: in New York fell near 150 trees and 300 branches. A PHOTO

As snowfall paralyzed New York. A PHOTO. VIDEO

First snowstorm of the season: New York is falling asleep with snow. A PHOTO. VIDEO

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.