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Subscribe to RSSIcy weather across parts of the Midwest affected roads and airports, particularly at O'Hare in Chicago, where nearly 200 flights were canceled. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
A storm encased the Midwest in glistening ice on Sunday, forcing officials to cancel flights and closing roadways and threatening to tangle the start of the work week as freezing rains headed east.
Hundreds of churches across Iowa called off Sunday services as sidewalks were turned to sheets of ice by the storm that meteorologists said had covered the Midwest in about a half-inch of ice by midday.
Flights in and out of Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis were grounded on icy runways.
The National Weather Service issued a freezing rain advisory for Chicago and the surrounding area for Sunday until 9 p.m. local time, when temperatures were expected to warm up enough to make it just rain. Until then, the weather service warned of dangerous conditions for driving and even walking.
"Pockets of sleet, freezing rain and freezing drizzle are possible farther east late tonight into Monday morning from Buffalo, New York, to New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Roanoke, Virginia," meteorologist Brian Edwards said on Accuweather.com.
Slick roadways were reported from South Sioux City, Nebraska, to Iowa, where numerous crashes were reported, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. In Franklin County, Iowa, Interstate 35 was blocked by tractor trailers struggling to get a grip on treacherous surfaces.
"Instant icing of windshields and roadway surfaces (as well as driveways, sidewalks and parking lots) can be expected in the areas with freezing temperatures," the Iowa DOT said.
In Missouri, ramps to connecting Interstate 270, which circles the St. Louis area, to Interstate 70 were closed early Sunday morning because of ice, but were later reopened, said Marie Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Transportation.
--Additional reporting by Reuters' Tim Bross in Missouri, Kay Henderson in Iowa and David Hendee in Nebraska; Editing by Edith Honan and Bill Trott.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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This is why I moved from Chicago to Tucson 12 years ago. Happy, happy, happy! Don't that stuff at all!!
Yeah? What if everybody moves to Tucson, Cactus?!
Funny how weather can go through different patterns. The Pacific Northwest used to have really bad blizzards all the time in the old days, but the last few winters have been very pleasant. The last bad winter was in 2008. But, they say we have a bad winter about every 6 or 7 years so we will be due here soon.......
To bad Tucson, but coming from Chicago, I see why you chose the liberal bastion of this state, mostly crazies live there.
Lived in the east for the past 40 years. Moved here from Illinois. Best trick, I use, for walking on ice? I have an old pair of tennis shoes. Glued sandpaper on the bottom. Makes walking on ice much easier. Still need to use caution though. Wouldn't give up the cold winter months for anything. Love it. Besides, it makes Spring, Summer and Fall much more enjoyable.
skipster56, If the ice is really bad, try those spiked prongs that you strap to your boots, they work great in the ice!
Is there anyone else that thinks the boundries for "midwest" should be moved over slightly? When they said "midwest" I don't think of Chicago! How is that "mid" anything? So anything past the coast line is "midwest"? hahaha
I agree. Ohio and Illinois are not the mid west. Here in southwest Va, family and myself were iced in for the last three days.
Yeah, I read on here somewhere the other day that even birds have sense enough to fly south in the winter, bird-brains that they be.
Not sense; just evolution
But using the term "evolution" would take all the humor out of the statement.
sigh...really big sigh
Every state has their weather issues, if not weather, fires, etc. No one is 100% safe, why move !!!
OH, woe R us... It's 76 degrees in Honolulu w/light rain and the Pro Bowl is about to start. I'm Not a football fan. I'll go mow the lawn. Work up a sweat.....
I can't wait to move back to FL. I had to return to NJ five years ago on a family matter and I absolutely hate it here.
missed an ice storm last week and going to miss this one too! Gotta love Atlanta Ga..I used to live in Va/DC metro area and I don't miss it a bit
this morning it was freezing rain, then a light drizzle, now, late into the evening, the temperature is going up, expected to get into the mid 50's overnight, and for the next two days, 70 plus degree's expected, then a snow and ice storm to follow.
Again millions of people, here and around the world, are being endangered by severe weather. These recent events dramatically demonstrate that the earth is profoundly threatened by a new weather phenomenon, "Global Cooling." If left unchecked the earth will turn into a frozen, lifeless ice cube like Mars. This calamity is being caused by the atmospheric changes brought on by all the rich left wingers. By overheating their large mansions, flying around in their personal jets and the toxic waste emanating from their mouths they block the sunlight. Fortunately, there is a solution. By imposing a 100% tax on left wingers we can save civilization and the earth. Al Gore, we're gonna get our money back.
dougjmiller, I do believe you are on to something here; check with the government to see if you can get a grant to study this phenomenon, $450,000 yearly should cover it...
Well first of all the Democrats will take all your guns away an throw them in a Bonn fire to melt the ice. Then they will double your taxes an all the hot air out of Washington will warm the atmosphere. Then because of the fact we will all be homeless following layoffs we can all huddle together in one location an start our own individual state free of Government rule... Don't you love how politics end up in every discussion.......
Again millions of people, here and around the world, are being endangered by severe weather
Nope, we're much more endangered by severe ignorance...........like the ignorance of those who reject science.
You will never have to worry about Global Cooling in this or any near future lifetime. Maybe Global Warming, but not cooling. Why. Our Sun is to last about another 3 billion years before turning to ash and be gone. The earth would then cool down to about 0 degrees in one day. Then in about a week be around -140 degrees. Then go to around -440 degrees. That is what I call Global Cooling.
Where did you people learn geography? The last time I checked, Kansas City sits in the Midwest and we weren't "blanketed" by any ice. The Midwest is a huge section of the USA. You might want to be a little more accurate on your reporting.
Space Captain...show us the science, as you call it. Can you explain to us what a Madden-Julian Oscillation is and how it relates to ENSO? What are the different types of lapse rates?
And the sun will gradually expand greatly in size as it turns into a red giant. We'll be burnt to a crisp rather than approach absolute zero.
With a comment like yours, a more appropriate user name would be Space Cadet.
Rex,
Can you explain that? And are you really concerned about the death of our sun? Nice try to show us your "scientific" knowledge, but if you remain in the denial group you are obviously cherry-picking your data. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the planet is warming. I can only recommend that you look for yourself.
Trutherdude,
You probably wouldn't qualify for admission to the "Space Academy".
I'm going to write a note to myself to remember this when I'm broiling under the Texas sun this coming summer. Boy am I glad I live in the south! So sorry to those affected but somebody has to live there.
I hear you had a massive fire last year in TX that took volunteers from 47 states to bring under control.
But like you said, somebody has to live there.
'splain this to me, why do you never here of people in Texas, dying from the heat?
Maybe because you're not listening?
Texas averages over 200 deaths every summer season related to heat.
Well this is a suprise an ice storm in the January in the midwest who would have thought that could happen what with global warming and all. Snow and ice in the winter is that really a newa story.
If you don't want advanced notice, stop reading articles like this and never watch the weather again.
Those of us that like this information can now go make sure our generators are ready to go.
Proactive beats reactive every time.
I don't mind this one bit. I will take the weather and the nice Midwestern people any day of the week, any time of the year. Lived 10 years without snow in Phoenix but the people just ruin the whole thing.
Having survived the big ice storm in '98 in Maine this would be a cake walk in comparison. We had ice over a foot thick on the roofs, trees were cracking and snapping and falling with a tremendous thud all night long, and the pine branches that fell were so caked with ice you could not drag them away. LOL! No comparison.
In southern Minnesota, we are blanketed in ice. I'm not leaving the house until the ice is gone. Might not be till April. LOL.
In Iowa, this was a tame ice storm. We have had much worse, never the less, I had to spread sand on the walks and drive. In my younger days when I was invincible nothing would stop me from traveling in nasty weather. Now that I am smarter I just throw some more wood on the fire and say that there is no reason for going out.
I was just at the national weather service website, with all the storms and variety of calamities descending on people, and with all the different colors with each variety of weather, the US map looks like a multicolor easter egg.
I pay more for my insurance down here, and utilities and other things that make up the Sunshine Tax, but it's worth it not to endure the snow and ice. I'm from the Midwest, don't miss winter at all. Hope everyone stays safe and warm. Be careful out there, folks!
Strange comments here. I don't know that this winter storm is anything that unusual. But, the term, folks, is "Climate Change", because there is an overall warming trend globally. That's a fact that 99% of climate scientists agree has been hastened drastically by fossil fuel emissions. Some regions may see a localized cooling trend, some a localized warming trend. The results are manifesting as long term weather patterns rapidly deviating from the norm. The "norm" being what we have adapted to live in for millennia. The icecaps are melting, glacial ice disappearing, permafrost being revealed, carbon dioxide sequestration has reached it's limit and the oceans are acidifying. Add to all that overpopulation, unsustainable agricultural practices, all the other forms of pollution (plastic, plastic, plastic), and the fact that since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution we (as a species) has managed to extinct 90% of all life on the planet -we might want to take a brief moment to think about what we might change in our own lives to improve what's left of the situation we have to control, rather than complacently putting another nail in the coffin. And, if you don't believe what scientists have to say on the matter then what's the point in believing an expert in any field? What's the point in having a reverence for knowledge at all?! It's not a Fox news roundtable where they make it seem as though it's evenly divided between experts that acknowledge climate change and our influence upon it, and those that dissent. It's more analogous to those that acknowledge people have been to the moon, and those that think it's just a big hoax or conspiracy. Sigh.
In central Illinois, we are supposed to hit 60 on Monday and Tuesday. Wish it would get cold and stay cold. We burn wood so I stay nice and warm. Wouldn't live in the south but would sure consider the north east.
I hate the horrid humidity of summer in Illinois. Give me the cold weather any day.
Happy to be living in the Valley of The Sun...PHOENIX, ARIZONA ...
That is why I've been wintering in Fountainhills, AZ. for the past 12 years. damned global warming or climate change, whatever they're calling this month. Normally live in mid-Michigan on the east coast, the sun rise side.
ARIZONA is ideal place to live! We moved here from NY when I was a kid and we have no desire to leave. We have cool winters in the Phoenix metro area with some rainy days, no ice and snow to deal with. If we want cold, alpine snowy weather we just drive an hour to the mountains! When it's hot in the summer, just a short drive to the mountains and enjoy being in the cool pines! We have the best of both worlds in AZ. And even during the hot time of year it is not humid like in other parts of the country.
Arizona Snowbowl ski resort near Flagstaff reported Sunday it had received 14 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, with a season cumulative total of 108 inches. Sunrise Park Resort near Greer, Arizona reported 5 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, with 106 inches of snow so far this season. At least there isn't an ice storm to contend with.