Snowstorm Snarls Airline Travel, Causes Outages in Central Plains
Blowing snow snarled airline schedules Wednesday as the latest in a series of winter storms whistled from the central Plains into New England, causing power outages and traffic accidents.
“If you’re not canceled you’re going to be delayed. It’s not pleasant,” said Chicago aviation department spokeswoman Lisa Howard.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut arrivals and departures at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport by two-thirds because of blowing snow and poor visibility.
New York City’s airports reported scattered delays.
The storm that already had dumped more than a foot of snow on Nebraska brought up to 15 inches Wednesday to southern Wisconsin and 11 inches to northern Illinois. In the Northeast, up to a foot of snow was forecast in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Snow and ice downed power lines in central Illinois, and nearly the entire city of Springfield lost electricity during the night.
In Nebraska, three tractor-trailer rigs and numerous cars were involved in an accident that blocked traffic on Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln.
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