Photos: Late-week snowstorm blankets midwestern US, prompts widespread school closures, flight delays
Heavy snow buried parts of the midwestern United States Thursday night into Friday, leading to widespread travel disruptions from Iowa through Michigan to close out the week.
The heaviest snow fell along a narrow area from central Iowa to southern Michigan, including Chicago and Detroit. Accumulations in this area generally ranged from 6-12 inches with a few spots picking up over a foot of fresh powder.
Snow contributed to widespread travel disruptions with over 1,500 flights being canceled at airports across the region, a majority of which occurring at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Multiple pileups were reported across Michigan on Friday with one on US-23, leading to one fatality.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the region on Friday due to the wintry weather, including all public schools in the city of Chicago.
Additional snow is forecast to fall across the region this weekend, leading to more disruptions to travel and daily routines.
“The snowfall will keep roads and sidewalks slippery and may require occasional shoveling and plowing operations with 1-6 inches of snow forecast, on top of Friday's snowfall,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Commuters travel on Interstate 94 during a winter storm in Detroit, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. Thousands of children in the Midwest got a rare snow day off school Friday as a winter storm moved through the Great Lakes region, dumping nearly a foot of the white powder in some places with more on the way.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Snow is blown onto commuters while an arriving Chicago Transit Authority train arrives as a winter storm makes its way through several Midwest states Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, in Chicago. The upper Midwest is preparing for a wintry blast as a winter storm is expected across the region, with forecasters saying up to a foot of snow is expected in some areas. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A commuter train pulls into the LaSalle Street station under a heavy snowfall early Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Roads conditions on Interstate 80 near Iowa City, Iowa, early Friday morning (Image/Iowa Department of Transportation)
