CHICAGO —
It’s finally looking like winter in the Midwest as the season’s first big snowstorm crawls across the region, leaving skiers and snow-reliant businesses giddy but greeting Friday commuters with a sloppy, slippery drive.
After starting as one of the warmest and brownest winters in recent history, parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri were blanketed in white before the storm moved across Illinois and points east. Snowplow drivers were out in force overnight in Chicago, as six to eight inches of snow and plummeting temperatures moved in.
Nine inches of snow fell in northern Indiana before skies cleared early Friday. Forecasters said cold winds still could whip up lingering lake effect snow showers and push snowfall on Lake Michigan’s southern shore above a foot, while Michigan’s Upper Peninsula braced for similar totals before the storm continued its eastward roll through Ohio and into New England.
In a typical year, such a storm would hardly register in the Upper Midwest. But the atmospheric patterns, including the Pacific pattern known as La Nina, that have conspired to make this an unusually icy winter in Alaska have kept it abnormally warm in parts of the lower 48 states accustomed to more snow.
For Steve Longo, a 47-year-old chiropractor from Wauwatosa, Wis., the wait to try out the cross country skis he got for Christmas was excruciating. He and friend Alex Ng, 56, wasted no time hitting the trails at the Lapham Peak cross country ski area, about 25 miles west of Milwaukee.
“I wasn’t worried,” Longo said. “I was just anxious.”
“This is Wisconsin,” a confident Ng said. “There’s going to be snow.”
While the dry weather has been an unexpected boon to many cash-strapped communities, which have saved big by not having to pay for plowing, salting and sanding their streets, it has hurt seasonable businesses that bank on the snow.
“If people don’t see it in their yards they are not likely to come out and ski and snowboard so this is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful for us,” Kim Engel, owner of Sunburst Ski area in Kewaskum in southeastern Wisconsin, said as she watched the snow come down out the window.
Rob Moser, a snowplow driver from Elkhart, Ind., said he couldn’t wait for the flakes to start falling.
“I love it. I make money plowing snow and I’m all about snowmobiling, so I love it,” Moser said. “We haven’t had enough snow to do much.”
The storm was an annoyance for most commuters, and authorities said it caused hundreds of traffic accidents and at least three road deaths — two in Iowa and one in Missouri. And while some lucky grade-schoolers cheered an unexpected day of sledding, hundreds of would-be air travelers had to scramble to come up with a Plan B.
More than 400 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Thursday, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Across town at Midway International Airport, more than 100 flights were canceled.
In New York state, the storm dumped up to 8 inches of snow on the southern Adirondack Mountains and forced scores of schools to cancel or delay the start of classes. Until Thursday’s storm, Albany had received only 6.5 inches of snow this winter, which is about 10 inches less than it normally gets, according to the weather service.
The ice and snow may have caused headaches for travelers, but 44-year-old Mike Norman, of Evanston, Ill., said the snow was long overdue. Norman co-founded Chicago Endurance Sports, which offers a Winter Warriors program to help runners stay committed to their training and teach them about the right gear for winter.
But because of the unseasonably warm weather — temperatures exceeded 50 degrees on Wednesday — the program hasn’t really geared up, he said.
“It’s one of my favorite times of year to run. It’s clean. It’s crisp. It’s quiet,” Norman said. “It’s fun to put footsteps in the fresh snow.”
Lisa Taylor, the director of the North American Vasa cross-country ski race near Traverse City, Mich., said the storm, which pushed into the area Thursday night, would help reinforce the thick base of snow on the rolling trails that they needed for races.
“There’s been a great feeling of confidence that we’d get some good snow,” Taylor said. “Up in the hilly areas where the trails are, there’s already more snow than you’d think.”
Recent Local News
Sloppy commute as Midwest gets first big snowstorm
- Recent Local News
-
-
SWEET TREAT: Volunteers see the attraction of annual Starlight Strawberry Festival
-
Board chair: Parks district best solution for New Albany and Floyd County
Mayor Jeff Gahan’s veto of a new parks deal between the city and county was upheld earlier this month by the New Albany City Council. While the Floyd County Council agreed to still pay an additional $100,000 toward the parks department for the remainder of the year, the city and county remain under a prior agreement that led to funding discrepancies in the past.
-
THE 'V' WORD: SUB: Prosser Career Education Center moves away from stigma of ‘vocational’ school
- TARC sets Memorial Day and Kennedy Bridge route changes
- Indiana man releases hostages, fatally shoots self
-
Vietnam veteran receives medals 46 years after active duty ends
- More travelers to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend
-
Pence talks bridges, jobs during Southern Indiana swing
“I think everyone senses with the recent bridges agreement, the potential for extraordinary growth,” said Mike Pence, a U.S. House member who is seeking to replace Gov. Mitch Daniels and retain the gubernatorial seat for the Republican Party.
- Police: Gunman has hostages in Indiana realty office
-
Delaware woman dies in I-65 crash
-
Collingsworth Family to perform at Silver Heights Retreat Center in New Albany
The Collingsworth Family will be making a return trip to the Silver Heights Retreat and Camp Center in New Albany on Thursday, June 7.
-
Clark County approves self-insurance plan
Clark County Insurance Agent-of-Record Diane Swank presented health insurance renewal options at the council meeting Monday, but the county’s fiscal body decided to recess its meeting in order to review a proposal to move the county to a self-insured plan.
-
New theater directors at NAHS and FCHS ready for their programs
As the curtain falls on the careers of the teachers who put the theater programs of Floyd Central and New Albany high schools on the map, the new blood coming in have big hopes for the programs they’re taking over.
-
Jeff to start enforcing insurance ordinances
A 2004 ordinance that dictates how much city retirees pay for health insurance – ignored for years by Jeffersonville officials – looks like it will now be enforced.
-
Top Gun showing Saturday at the New Albany riverfront
In honor of Memorial Day, the city of New Albany will show the movie “Top Gun” on its new 40-foot screen at the Riverfront Amphitheater Saturday.
- More Recent Local News Headlines
-
