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.
Can I get a grammar cop's opinion on this?
I have always thought that "closure" was a noun referring to the device by which entry to something was denied. The twisted wire on the end of a loaf of bread is a "closure."
When one wishes to describe the act of closing a school (or military base, for that matter) he must use the gerund form of the verb, "to close." That form is, "closing."
Therefore, one must speak of the weather's forcing a school's closing, not a school's [?]closure[?].
uuhhhh, message received. over.
48 hours ago, I was sitting out on my deck happy as a clam, working on a puzzle book and keeping my dog amused. I was determined to get outside on what I knew was one of the last nice days we'd have.
This morning I went out and shoveled about 8 inches of snow off the same place I was sitting on Wed.
I had to find the dog's water bowl with the snow shovel - it was buried.
Enjoy while it lasts!
Bush hates cold, white people. ;-)
Must be a global warming fan!
Thanks for the link and reminder that even 'experts' can be wrong... including politicans.
My sentiments exactly !!!
They closed the damned things.
Just thought you all might like to know that :-)
I heart Global Warming.
72???? Boy, it isn't even that warm here in Phoenix! It was 27 in our backyard this morning!!!
sigh,,
I just cleaned the pool, it's about 50 degrees,, the winds we had a few days ago really gunked it up.
Oh well, this to shall pass. :-)
Where's the federal guvment with free cash to the victims?
e.g. "road closure" or "hospitals that face closure".
Not that I am a grammar cop or anything....
Yeah... I LOVE this global warming stuff! I think it's actually 75 today in downtown D.C. I'm in the suburbs which are normally a little cooler (72 degrees right now). It'll go back to normal (global warming done) tomorrow and Sunday - 50 degrees.
Yeah! I wants one of them there debit cards too.
Really don't see the big deal though.
Its winter.
It snowed.
My house has heat and power, along with the most of the Midwest.
I went into work today, along with a whole bunch of other Midwesterners.
I'll spend about an hour shoveling out my front/side walk and my driveway.
I'll dress appropriately.
Oh, and here's my own personal public service announcement:
People who don't know how to drive in snow, people who just HAVE to ride your a$$ and drive at or 5 over the speed limit when the snow inhibits your vision to 3 feet in front of you, people who don't brush the snow off there car and seem to always want to change lanes and cut someone off, and people with SUVs that seem to believe that they CAN drive 50mph safely on a arterial road with 3+ inches of unplowed snow...please...by all means...STAY HOME!
That is all. Have a great day! :)
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