A furious winter storm that already dumped freezing rain and a foot of snow on parts of the Upper Midwest slammed into Chicago on Tuesday, continuing its angry march east.
The storm was forecast to blast Chicago with 7 to 10 inches of snow by Tuesday night. „Chicago will be digging out of their heaviest snowfall of the season,“ said Weather Channel coordinating meteorologist Tom Moore.
Cincinnati was bracing for up to six inches of a nasty mix of snow, sleet and ice, and Indianapolis was awaiting 3 to 6 inches. A bit more was expected outside the city. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
As the storm heads east, „It’s not going to be a fluffy snow,“ National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro said. „It will be thick, gloppy, wallpaper paste-type snow. And gusty winds will add to the stress.“
Charlottesville, Va., two hours outside Washington, could be among the hardest-hit areas; forecasters were calling for 10 to 14 inches. Martin Hardware was ready for the rush of last-minute shovel shoppers.
„We are prepared,“ said Dinah Jarrell, co-manager of the store that dates back more than 100 years. She said the store has stocked thousands of snow shovels and has a tractor trailer full of ice melt.
„They’ve been calling for snow all winter, but we haven’t actually had much yet,“ Jarrell said. „People have been skeptical, but they are coming in now. And I hate to say it, but we are delighted.“
More than 1,400 flight flights were canceled Tuesday at major airports from Chicago and Minneapolis to New York and Washington, according to flight tracking firm FlightStats. Those cancellations come on top of 366 canceled across the USA Monday, bringing the two-day cancellation tally to about 1,800.
North and South Dakota and Minnesota took the brunt of the storm Monday. Late Tuesday the storm was winding down in Minneapolis, and KARE-TV meteorologist Sven Sundgaard said final totals for the region would range from 6 to 10 inches.
The weather service said Grand Forks, N.D., received 7 inches on Monday, a record for the date. Minot, N.D., not only got a foot of snow but also set a rainfall record, as did Williston. Williston also got 6 inches of snow.
On Wednesday, the area most likely to receive a foot or more of snow is across the higher elevations of eastern West Virginia into Charlottesville and other parts of Virginia, AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
The snow could lead to power outages in portions of North Carolina, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
The storm should bring 4 to 8 inches of snow to Washington and Baltimore metro areas. That could mean problems for the region’s three big airports – Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International. Washington has seen only 1.5 inches of snow this winter, while Baltimore has picked up 4.8 inches.
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