Joshua Crowe, 28, uses a push broom to get his car out of the snow on Saturday Dec. 22, 2007, in Wichita, Kan. Parts of Kansas have been blanketed with snow for the second weekend in a row. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, G. Marc Benavidez)
Posted on 12/23/2007 1:08:02 PM PST by Libloather
Major Storm Causes Swath of Blackouts
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Associated Press Writer
December 23. 2007 2:10PM
Joshua Crowe, 28, uses a push broom to get his car out of the snow on Saturday Dec. 22, 2007, in Wichita, Kan. Parts of Kansas have been blanketed with snow for the second weekend in a row. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, G. Marc Benavidez)
MILWAUKEE Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blew through the region with heavy snow and howling wind.
At least eight deaths had been blamed on the storm.
Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Sunday as the core of the storm headed north across the Great Lakes. Parts of Wisconsin already had a foot of snow, and up to a foot was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.
Radar showed snow falling across much of Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota on Sunday and moving into parts of Michigan and Indiana.
"Everything is just an ice rink out there," Rock County Sheriff's Sergeant Steve Selby said Sunday morning.
The weather system also spread locally heavy rain on Sunday from the Southeast to the lower Great Lakes.
The storm rolled through Colorado and Wyoming on Friday, then spread snow and ice on Saturday from the Texas Panhandle to Minnesota. Multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways Saturday in the Plains states.
The area of Madison, Wis., got three to four hours of freezing rain early Sunday, said weather service meteorologist intern Bill Borghoff at Sullivan. The combination of icy pavement and gusty wind there was making driving treacherous, he said.
"It's quite a mess out there," Borghoff said.
Wind gusting to more than 50 mph uprooted trees in parts of Michigan. "I can see the snow moving basically sideways," weather service meteorologist Wayne Hoepner said in Grand Rapids.
Because of the wind, airlines canceled 150 flights Sunday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the city Aviation Department said. Municipal officials said the wind had knocked out almost 60 traffic signals, and there were nearly 500 reports of fallen trees and limbs.
More than 11,000 homes and businesses were without power in Wisconsin on Saturday because of the freezing rain, ice, gusty wind and heavy snow, utilities said.
Some 114,000 customers were without power Sunday morning in Michigan, and in Illinois about 48,000 customers were blacked out in the Chicago metro area.
At least three people in Minnesota, three in Wyoming and one person each in Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents that authorities said stemmed from the storm.
The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. At least 16 people were taken to hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries, Sgt. Michael Poston said.
"We're not really sure how many cars, probably in excess of 40 cars and in excess of 20 semi-trailers," Amarillo police Sgt. Greg Fisher said Sunday.
Many were holiday travelers, including families with small children not dressed for the weather, Sgt. Shawn McLeland said. Other drivers spotted them and opened Christmas presents to provide warmer clothing for the children.
Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow and slippery pavement. Multi-vehicle wrecks on Saturday also blocked sections of I-70 in Kansas and I-29 in Missouri.
I’m in Utica, North of Detroit.
WOW!
There’s no pushbroom in the photo; click on the link and you can read the correct caption.
Leni
It was here in Oklahoma yesterday, first freezing rain, then snow, all the while heavy winds. After our experience with the ice storm of two weeks ago everyone was on edge every time the lights flickered but fortunately we kept power. I wish all those without power the best of luck, it’s surely a test!
I couldn't find anything specific although the death toll is now up to 11. From another report -
Because of the wind, airlines canceled more than 250 flights Sunday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the city Aviation Department said. Municipal officials said the wind had knocked out nearly 170 traffic signals, and there were more than 500 reports of fallen trees and limbs.
Wheres the push broom then ?????
The image was switched out. That’s the problem, history won’t hold still anymore.
You people talking about power outages. That scares me. I mainly worry about my gas furnace but takes electricity to start it. Also have an electric stove. Can you set up a generator so it will keep the furnace running? I have a fireplace, no stock of wood, and it really needs checked out all over, throws out just a little heat in a very small area. I can live without my computer, tv, and have thought about buying a hand-cranked radio.
I've been reluctant to install a wood stove because I'm afraid to leave the house if there is anything burning left in it, house 3 doors down burned out whole interior from one when the girl was at work.
Charcoal is useless for heat and you can't cook inside with it because of CO. I thought about buying a shepherd's stove, but it would only handle one room and have to be vented to the outside.
Prolonged outage in sub zero temps also causes worry about pipes freezing. Last year people in outlying areas had to wait up to 6 days before their power was restored. I've had about 3 now in as many years, the last one was about a month ago, over 6 hours to restore, luckily the temps were in the 40's then.
I don't remember so many outages like this ever in my lifetime here. If we had any, they were right on it, but the area has grown, and the power company consolidated to include much more, like they have to bring in workers from other states and counties.
Are they powered by diesel fuel? How long can you store it before it degrades and how much should I have on hand?
I do have a kerosene heater in the garage but haven't used it in years, may not work any more. The problem I see with that, is that I bought 5 gal at a time and would have to make a run to buy more. IIRC it only lasted about 4 days if I used it a lot. If it's really bad, the stores will sell out their kerosene supplies anyway.
I also looked into corn burners, but won't go into the difficulties of that option.
Funny push broom there, it looks just like a tow strap.
That could be a push broom - with a really loooooooong handle - attached to a car.
This pic changed from the push broom dude, to a map of the region, to this poor fellow.
Merry Christmas!
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