Posted on 12/01/2006 11:51:59 AM PST by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO - The season's first major snowstorm marched across the Plains and Midwest on Friday, slopping up highways, shuttering schools and knocking out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses.
A plane slid off a runway in Chicago, and at least three deaths were blamed on the storm, which was moving northwest through Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin on a path to Canada.
Fifteen inches of snow was reported in Peru, 80 miles west of Chicago, and Kenosha, Wis., had more than 16 inches.
Charles Parker, 38, happily operated his snow blower in Milwaukee.
"I just got this baby and I've been waiting to break it in," he said. "From the looks of things, it'll get a lot of use."
In Missouri, Holly Foster said she was the only employee who had made it in to Gov. Matt Blunt's office by 8 a.m.
"My husband loves a challenge," she said.
The wintry system struck Thursday from Texas to Michigan, forcing the closure of thousands of schools, colleges and universities and state offices. Snow had moved mostly into Michigan and eastern Wisconsin by early afternoon, leaving behind downed power lines and icy roads and runways.
About 2.4 million customers across central and southern Illinois and parts of Missouri were without power early Friday after ice snapped tree limbs and power lines. St. Louis officials opened five warm-up centers, and utility officials warned that it would be days before all customers have electricity again.
"A lot of people are going to have to leave their homes," said Ron Zdellar, Ameren Corp.'s vice president.
A Fed Ex cargo plane arriving Friday morning at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport slipped off the runway into mud, and crews were working to tow it away. By noon, more than 450 flights were canceled there alone.
Three traffic deaths were reported Thursday, including two in Missouri.
The weather delayed state high school football playoffs in Oklahoma, where snowfall ranged up to a foot.
A gust of up to 50 miles an hour toppled a tree onto a mobile home in Greencastle, Ind., 40 miles west of Indianapolis.
Jennifer Stark with the National Weather Service in Topeka, Kan., said the storm seemed especially impressive because of the unseasonably mild weather that came before it. Temperatures in some places had reached record highs earlier in the week.
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Associated Press writers Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Mo., and Rochelle Hines in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
Will you be ok? Enough logs, beer and batteries for 4 or 5 days?
Are you snowed in?
I tested mine today. Started okay and I thought I had it made to plow that snow, then the lever BROKE!
LOL. They didn't appear intoxicated. Perhaps they thought that if they were going to roll over sober, maybe they could do without. OTOH, your illustrious red trailer bouncer did roll a canoe while returning from rowing across the lake to the beer and bait store on the lake once (thereby floating a couple dozen beer cans) when the labrador decided he'd chase a floating rock on the lake. We have a reservoir here called Rockport that has floating pieces of lava, some the size of footballs. The dog finally got tired, and when he decided to hop back into the canoe, well, let's just say his timing an mine were a touch off-synch. A very nice lady in a sunray towed me, the dog, the upside down canoe, and the greater majority of the beer cans to shore. All my friends waiting on shore (for the beer) were supportive and understanding. Uh huh.
They call him Flipper, Flipper...
Remember 1993 March... 20-24 inches of snow... I do
I live in GB. The storm missed us yeah!
Amazing isn't it? We're sitting here in the Colorado mountains buried by that storm, using our woodburner for heat, and waiting unti the windchills go above zero so we can go outside again, but when the same storm hits high population areas, it's the END OF THE WORLD! LOL
Spilled Doritos chips wash up on Outer Banks
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Saddam Hussein is deeply saddened. :-)
Sure they were understanding. I've never rolled a canoe unintentionally, though rolling it intentionally is the fastest way to clean out the canoe (best to do that in about 3 1/2 feet of water without the life vests/seat cushions).
..wait, you'll here it soon enough.
Lucky dawg. Of course, you'll get to join in on the cold.
We got 16 inches on May 15 back in the late 80's.
I used to live in GB, love that city.
And here I was, worried about you 
LOL, glad you're okay, RK :)
I've thought about you and that trailer several times today when they were showing those awful pictures on the news.
Chip thrills!
saw some zip lock sandwiches float by... then can after can after can of Budweiser. What the... so I netted all of it and set it up on the bank.
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sounds like a case of Bud Lite to me.
Thanks for the link. Here's my favorite comment:
It's nice to know that the sea still so bountifully provides food for us humans. And pre-packaged, too! Better on the shore than choking some poor sea turtles to death.
- Nancy G. Richmond
at first glance I thought it was one of them Ford
Aerostars but the grill don't look right for that model.
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