A powerful coast-to-coast winter storm that brought blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest and significant icing across the Great Lakes region will be winding down Thursday after knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of utility customers and snarling traffic and air travel across the region.
But the storm isn’t over just yet.
The winter storm has now set its sights on the Northeast and New England through Friday.
More than 70 million Americans were under some sort of winter weather alert as the storm moved across the country. As it did, several communities, like Minneapolis, declared Snow Emergencies in preparation of the storm’s impacts.
The peak of the storm for the Midwest was on Wednesday. As conditions worsened, power outages began to mount. Reports of road closures jumped, as did flight cancelations and delays at the region’s major airports, such as Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).
As of Thursday morning, more than 660,000 power outages were reported in Michigan alone. That number is expected to rise as winter weather conditions continue.
Utility crews will begin to make repairs to get the electricity flowing once again when the storm winds down and conditions improve.
A more than 250-mile stretch of Interstate 40 was closed in Arizona on Wednesday because snow and ice were covering the road.
A stretch of Interstate 94 in Wisconsin was also closed while crews worked to remove the snow and ice from that road.
Drivers had been urged to stay off the roads if possible. People who didn’t stay home were told to take it extremely slow and allow for plenty of room between vehicles and snow plows in order to stay as safe as possible.
Many passengers who were hoping to catch a flight at some of the region’s airports were told to call their airlines directly before heading out onto the roads to make sure flights were still on time.
Some airlines, such as Delta and United, have been offering travel waivers for anyone wishing to reschedule flights.
Thousands of flights across the region were canceled or delayed Wednesday. Officials at MSP said hundreds of flights had been canceled there on Wednesday alone. Travel impacts at the airport will continue on Thursday, but crews have been out in full force working to clear the snow and ice from the runways and taxiways to get back to normal operations as soon as possible.
The storm is now impacting the Northeast, especially New England, where snow, sleet and freezing rain have been falling.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, snow will continue to fall farther north, while ice and rain will be the primary concerns in southern New England. The freezing rain line is set up along the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90).
Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect through Friday morning across northern New York state, as well as a majority of New England.
Southern Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have been excluded from the winter weather alerts. However, rain is falling in those locations, which is leading to longer travel times for some drivers.
The highest snow totals can be expected in northern New York state and northern New England. Northern areas of Vermont, New Hampshire and most of Maine can expect to see 8-12 inches of snow. Farther south, in Massachusetts and northern Connecticut, the snow totals will be much lower.
Ice can also be an issue for communities in higher elevations, such as The Berkshires in Massachusetts. Drivers there are being urged to take it slow on the roads as conditions could become treacherous.
The storm will continue to spin across the region Thursday night into Friday, and conditions should start to improve from west to east as the system exits the region later on Friday.