Chicago
\nTens of millions of Americans were in the pathway of dangerous and damaging weather conditions as snowstorms moved across the Northwest and Midwest, flooding threatened the East Coast and potential tornadoes were on tap in the South.
\nAirlines delayed more than 7,600 flights across the U.S. on Friday, including planes grounded at Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare International Airport due to winds and blinding snow. In Iowa, Republican presidential candidates canceled events three days out from the state\u2019s caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests in which parties pick their nominees ahead of November\u2019s general election.
\nBlizzards arrived in much of the upper Midwest on Friday morning with heavy snows and fierce winds of up to 60 miles per hour (96 kph) that were expected to continue into Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned.
\nMore than 133,000 homes and businesses lost power in Michigan, according to data from PowerOutage.US. The lights went out for another 150,000-plus customers in Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
\n\u201cThis storm system is definitely dangerous,\u201d said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS\u2019 Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The service cautioned against unnecessary travel, noting that visibility on some roads in Chicago was less than half a mile.
\nTaylor warned of risks of frostbite and hypothermia in Iowa, where temperatures for most of the state were forecast to drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius).
\nThe forecast for Monday in Des Moines, the state capital, was a low of minus 18 F (minus 28 C). Temperatures for Monday\u2019s caucuses, which entail long meetings in churches and school gyms, are expected to be the coldest on record for that political event.
\nRepublican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former ambassador and South Carolina governor, canceled all three campaign events planned for Friday, substituting them for phone-in events.
\nFred Schuster, 68, braved Friday morning\u2019s blizzard to watch Ron DeSantis, Florida\u2019s governor, campaign in Ankeny, Iowa.
\n\u201cI am worried about the weather,\u201d Schuster said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to impact how many people attend the caucuses.\u201d
\nOfficials canceled a planned rally in Pella, Iowa, for supporters of Donald Trump, who is seeking a second White House term after losing 2020\u2019s election.
\nBy midmorning on Saturday, there could be 3 to 6 inches of snow in downtown Chicago. Throughout Friday, as the snow falls, strong winds could bring whiteout conditions.
\nChicago Public Schools remained open while dozens of other districts across the metro region canceled in-person classes for the day.
\nThe snow and wind contributed to 2,230 flight cancellations and more than 7,600 delays of flights within, into or out of the United States on Friday, according to FlightAware, with Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare and Midway airports topping the list.
\nMilwaukee, Wisconsin, is expected to receive some of the heaviest snow as the blizzard will drop 12 to 18 inches, with wind gusts up to 40 mph through the weekend.
\nWestern New York, including Buffalo, could get more than a foot of snow. But after this system pushes east, \u201clake-effect\u201d snow could bring several more inches through Monday to the Buffalo area.
\nAnother 13 million people who live near the Atlantic Ocean or large waterways in Virginia north into New England were under the threat of flooding from heavy rains and snows over the past few days.
\nTo the south in Mississippi, some 3 million people were under the threat of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms as the NWS warned that the winds of up to 60 mph could damage roofs and take down trees and power lines.
\nA winter storm system was also hitting the Pacific Northwest on Friday, and tracking through the Central Rockies with heavy snow that could drop \u201ca couple feet of snow\u201d at the higher elevations over the weekend, Taylor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicago Tens of millions of Americans were in the pathway of dangerous and damaging weather conditions as snowstorms moved across the Northwest and Midwest, flooding threatened the East Coast and potential tornadoes were on tap in the South. Airlines delayed more than 7,600 flights across the U.S. on Friday, including planes grounded at Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-380709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n