Ice storm knocks out power to 220,000 in US Midwest

[Richard]

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Snow and ice storms across the U.S. Midwest knocked out power service to more than 220,000 homes and businesses in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio early Friday, local utilities reported.

The storm left 161,000 customers out in Indiana, 47,000 out in Illinois and 15,000 out in Ohio. The utilities said the outages would likely grow as the storm marches across the Midwest toward the Atlantic Coast.

The large storm was expected to drop snow from Minnesota to Connecticut, with ice and freezing rain falling in northern Indiana, Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Freezing rain was causing more damage to the power system than the snow because the ice weighs down tree branches, snapping them onto power lines.

American Electric Power Co Inc's (AEP.N) Indiana Michigan Power unit was reporting the most outages with more than 94,000 customers out in Indiana.

AEP, of Columbus, Ohio, owns and operates more than 38,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; editing by Jim Marshall)

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssUtili...3220081219

[Richard]

Winter storm rips into Midwest, Northeast

(CNN) -- Milwaukee's airport was shut down and travel treacherous across the upper Midwest as a major winter storm plowed eastward Friday, the National Weather Service said.

"This is essentially the reincarnation of the same storm that brought the heavy snow to parts of California, southern Nevada and northern Arizona," Steve Corfidi, lead forecaster with the weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, told CNNRadio.

As much as 10 inches of snow was predicted for southern Wisconsin and Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport before dawn Friday.

To the south and east, snow and ice were creating havoc at major airports, from O'Hare International in Chicago, Illinois -- almost three-hour delays -- to New York's John F. Kennedy International -- 2½ hour delays, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

And the storm's effects were felt far from its icy grip. It was a sunny 77 degrees at Florida's Palm Beach International Airport at noon Friday, but those with travel plans to Boston or New York saw their flights canceled, CNN affiliate WPBF-TV reported. Florida fliers could still get to Newark Liberty International, WPBF said, but the FAA reported Newark arrivals were delayed up to 5½ hours.

Almost a foot of snow was predicted for parts of central Michigan, CNN affiliate WNEM-TV in Saginaw reported. Classes were canceled in hundreds of schools across the state, according to the station's Web site.

Police in Buffalo, New York, shut down the city's Skyway highway because of winds and snow, CNN affiliate WGRZ-TV reported. Western New York had several inches of snow on the ground by noon, the station reported.

To the north in Ontario, Canada, southbound Highway 400 was shut down outside Toronto after an multi-vehicle accident in near whiteout conditions, CNN affiliate CTV reported.

"Lots of blowing snow. Visibility is next to nothing," CTV senior cameraman Tom Podolec reported from the scene.

Ontario Provincial Police reported 70 accidents in less than five hours Friday morning.

Forecaster Corfidi said the storm is expected to maintain intensity into Saturday, continuing eastward and "spreading a swath of very heavy snow and freezing rain all the way into Pennsylvania and New York."

Storm watches and warnings extended from the central Plains to the mid- and north Atlantic coast, he said.

"There could easily be up to a foot of snow over parts of Illinois, northern Indiana, perhaps into parts of Michigan and southern Wisconsin, eastward into parts of New York and Pennsylvania," Corfidi said. Watch Arizonans cope with snowfall »

The system should move quickly, Corfidi said. It was not shaping up as an extraordinary winter event, he said.

"It is December, and winter storms certainly raise their ugly heads this time of year," Corfidi added.

But in New Hampshire, still reeling from an ice storm last week, crews worked feverishly to restore electricity service to more than 30,000 customers remaining in the dark, CNN affiliate WMUR-TV in Manchester reported.

Southern New Hampshire could get 10 new inches of snow before midnight Friday, WMUR said.

While the weather focus was east of the Rockies on Friday, forecasters in the Northwest had dire predictions for the weekend.

"It's going to be a real mess," National Weather Service forecaster Brad Colman told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

A major storm with wind gusts up to 90 mph and snowfall that could be a much as a foot deep was moving in from the Pacific, the newspaper reported.

This accumulation could pile on top of ice and snow left over from earlier this week. All major schools in the Seattle-Tacoma area were closed Friday, CNN affiliate KIRO-TV in Seattle reported, as roads were too icy for buses to navigate.
 
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