CHICAGO (AP) – The first significant wintry storm of the season blanketed parts of the Midwest with a foot of snow and more was on the way Saturday, creating hazardous conditions as some travelers prepared to depart for the Thanksgiving holiday.
While winter has not officially begun, the shovels and snow blowers were out from South Dakota through southern Minnesota, Iowa and southern Wisconsin to northern Illinois and Indiana. The National Weather Service said the snow would continue in Illinois and Indiana on Saturday and move into Michigan. The front will head northeast to Canada late on Saturday and into Sunday.
“In those areas it is going to be a very tough travel day,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bruce Terry in College Park, Maryland.
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, had recorded 4 inches of snow by early Saturday with more falling. Roads were slushy as freezing rain turned to snow in the Chicago area, which was forecast to get between six and 10 inches. Marengo, about 65 miles northwest of Chicago, recorded 12 inches of snow, according to weather service meteorologist Bruce Sullivan.
Temperatures plunged behind the front with Sioux Falls, South Dakota recording 11 degrees early on Saturday and the town of Estherville in northern Iowa even colder at 6 degrees with a wind chill of minus 4, the weather service said.