Storm batters Midwest, Northeast

CHICAGO — A snowstorm made travel treacherous Friday in the Midwest and Northeast and was blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths.

Nearly 7 ½ inches of snow was reported at Chicago O'Hare International Airport before the front moved out of the area Friday. About 500 flights were canceled at O'Hare, which canceled 600 flights Thursday and housed hundreds of stranded travelers who spent the night awaiting planes from other cities also affected by the storm. More than 9 inches of snow delayed flights at Chicago Midway Airport on Friday.

At least 12 inches of snow was reported in Springfield by Friday morning, said National Weather Service meteorologist Gino Izzi.

Ten inches fell in Bloomington, and Southern Illinois saw up to 11 inches dumped near Palmyra northwest of St. Louis.

It wasn't so much the amount of snow that bothered some Midwesterners but that their region has been on a weather roller-coaster in recent days.

In Chicago a few weeks ago, a wind chill made single-digit temperatures feel far colder, leading residents to barricade themselves indoors while they worried about pipes freezing.

Then, one day last week, a 48-degree high at O'Hare had folks thinking about spring. But by that night, the temperature had plummeted into the single digits again.

"We saw a 60-degree single-day drop in St. Louis last week, too," said James Auten, a meteorologist with National Weather Service's Central Illinois office. "Usually we'll get cold and stay cold in the winter. But that hasn't happened this year."

The icy temperatures also proved problematic for at least one company that supplies salt used to clear roads: Morton Salt's barges couldn't get past ice in the Illinois River south of Peoria.

"Our phones have been ringing constantly. Our stockpiles are getting a little low," said Joe Wojtonik, a spokesman for Morton Salt. "We're hoping that Mother Nature likes us and gives us a break in the weather."

The storm also brought snow, freezing rain and sleet to the Northeast, where arriving flights at Newark Liberty International Airport experienced delays of up to three hours Friday afternoon.

Arrivals were delayed by 2 ½ hours at New York's LaGuardia Airport, two hours at Philadelphia International Airport and 90 minutes at New York's Kennedy Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's Web site.

Along the nearly 500-mile-long New York State Thruway, troopers reported more than 200 accidents compared with between 10 and 15 on a typical clear day.

At least four people died in traffic accidents Friday on ice-slicked Hudson Valley roads, three when their car slid into an oncoming sanding truck in East Fishkill, the fourth in a head-on collision in the town of Goshen.

Six people died on Illinois roads in crashes Thursday and Friday.

Hundreds of schools in Michigan canceled classes, and roads were snow-covered and slick. The weather service said at least 1 to 5 inches had fallen in parts of the state Friday.