CHICAGO — A slow-moving winter storm blanketed a large swath of the Plains and Midwest in snow Sunday, forcing the cancellation of roughly 2,000 flights, making roads treacherous and forcing some people to rethink their plans to attend Super Bowl parties.
Blizzard conditions developed in Chicago — where more than a foot was expected by evening — and other Midwest locales as the system slowly crept eastward into Pennsylvania and western New York state. Parts of New England still digging out from a storm early last week were readying for yet another round of snow to arrive Sunday and last through Monday.
The snowstorm was expected to be the most far-reaching of the season to date, stretching from Nebraska to Maine, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters also said the storm was moving unusually slowly, meaning accumulations of between 10 to 16 inches of snow are possible for parts of northern Illinois, Indiana and northwest Ohio. Similar amounts of snow are expected for the Northeast later Sunday and throughout Monday.
"It's not wise to travel, unless you have an emergency," said David Beachler a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Chicago area.
Craig Owens, an English professor at Drake University, was one of the many Midwest residents who spent the morning shoveling their driveways.
"I'm not going to make it the gym anyway, so I've got to get a workout somehow," said Owens, whose home in Des Moines, Iowa, got about 10 inches of snow.
More than 1,950 flights were canceled in the Midwest, the vast majority of which were flights in or out of Chicago's two airports.
Chicago's Department of Aviation said about 1,300 departing flights were canceled from O'Hare International Airport and 300 at Midway International Airport. At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, more than 350 departing flights were canceled, and more delayed. About 20 flights were canceled from Omaha's Eppley Airfield.
The winds — gusts up to 45 mph were expected in the Chicago area — made road travel tricky too. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner cautioned against any travel and put state agencies on alert.
The Illinois Department of Transportation dispatched 350 trucks to clear and salt Chicago-area roadways ahead of Monday's morning rush hour. In eastern Nebraska, several sections of Interstate 80 were closed Sunday due to accidents in the icy conditions.
The weather led to power outages Sunday, including roughly 18,000 ComEd customers in Illinois, most of them in suburban Chicago. The weather cut power to nearly 8,000 northern Indiana homes and businesses.