Winter storms at both ends of the United States dumped snow and snarled air and land travel, killing at least 10 people, blocking major highways and even stranding 400 train passengers in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Nearly 19cm of snow was reported at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport before the front moved out of the area on Friday. About 500 flights were cancelled at O’Hare, which had scrapped 600 flights on Thursday and housed hundreds of stranded travellers who spent the night awaiting planes from other cities also affected by the storm.
At least 30cm of snow was reported in Springfield by Friday morning, said National Weather Service meteorologist Gino Izzi. Other parts of Illinois saw similar amounts.
The storm brought snow, freezing rain and sleet to the Northeast, where arriving flights at Newark Liberty Airport were delayed as long as three hours on Friday afternoon. Arrivals were delayed by two-and-a-half hours at La Guardia Airport, two hours at Philadelphia International and an hour-and-a-half at New York’s Kennedy, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
At least four people died on Friday on ice-slicked New York state roads. Six people died on Illinois roads on Thursday and Friday.
Another storm system made roads impassible in parts of the Pacific Northwest. In Washington state, a 112km stretch of Interstate 90 remained closed because of the avalanche danger at the Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Range.
Two Amtrak passenger trains carrying 400 people got stuck in the mountains of Northern California near Donner Pass, agency officials said. No injuries were reported.
The trains had been stuck since 2pm on Friday, but the passengers were being fed and both trains had heating and lights, Amtrak spokesperson Karina Romero said. The tracks were expected to be cleared early on Saturday morning.
United Kingdom
Meanwhile, thousands of homes in Britain were still without electricity on Saturday after heavy snowfall and gale-force winds had severely hit the country, but the weather was expected to ease.
Blizzards hit the north of England and Scotland on Friday, causing chaos on the roads, bringing down trees and leaving people stranded. Less biting weather was expected on Saturday, although severe-weather warnings had been issued for most of Britain.
Hundreds of motorists, including a group of 40 pensioners, had to be rescued late on Friday night after being left stranded on the remote A66 road in County Durham, northern England.
An air-rescue effort was aborted off the Scilly Isles in the Celtic Sea after the captain of a cargo ship was seriously injured during a force-10 gale. The man was to be taken to hospital when the Horncliff, which was carrying fruit, had made its way to Cork in the south-west of Ireland.
In the North-East and North Yorkshire, 6 000 homes were left without electricity after falling trees and debris damaged overhead power lines.
Earlier, crew and passengers had to be rescued from two ships — one off the coast of Blackpool, north-west England, and one off the remote island of St Kilda, west of Scotland.
The Meteorological Office issued severe weather warnings on Saturday morning, alerting people to the risk of icy roads in northern and eastern England as well as the south-west of the country.
Warnings were issued in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and parts of Scotland were to see more snow after Friday’s cold snap saw snow recorded as deep as 15cm in some parts. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-dpa