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U.S. NEWS Thursday 28 November 2019
Winter storm threatens to scramble Thanksgiving travel plans

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A you tried," National Weath- transportation officials said.
day after bringing havoc er Service meteorologist Northbound lanes of Inter-
to the Rocky Mountains, a Brent Hewett said of back- state 5, which runs paral-
powerful winter storm rolled to-back storms forming lel to the coast, were re-
across the Midwest on around the holiday. opened laters Wednesday
Wednesday, threatening Christina Williams and her from Redding, California all
to scramble Thanksgiving 13-year-old son, who live in the way to the Oregon bor-
plans for millions of people Portland, Oregon, got stuck der. The southbound lanes
during one of the busiest in the storm as they tried to at Ashland, Oregon, re-
travel weeks of the year. drive to the San Francisco opened earlier in the day.
The storm, which was area for Thanksgiving. Wil- Transportation officials and
blamed for one death liams said she and other other agencies tried to
and hundreds of can- stranded drivers connect- communicate the serious-
celed flights, pushed east ed on Twitter using weath- ness of the storm, but many
into South Dakota, Iowa, er-related hashtags and drivers were still caught by
Michigan, Minnesota and began to communicate surprise, said Don Ander- In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, provided by Cal-
Wisconsin. It dropped close to find out what conditions son, deputy director of the trans, are cars and trucks in stopped traffic on Interstate 5 near
to a foot of snow in some were like in other parts of California Department of Dunsmuir, Calif.
areas even as the system the backup. Transportation in Redding. Associated Press
weakened and headed to- "There were spinouts every- Minneapolis awoke to as
ward New York and Penn- where. There were trucks much as 9 inches of snow. teorologists to focus on the In the city's Loop business
sylvania. that were abandoned. Drivers were warned to stay forecast. district, high winds peeled
But the West was not free of And every time we stopped off the roads at least until Airport spokesman Patrick a wooden sign off scaffold-
heavy weather. A "bomb and started moving again, the winds died down. Hogan said three runways ing at Willis Tower. The sign
cyclone" caused by a rapid there were people who "If you can wait a little bit were open Wednesday, slammed into two vehicles
drop in air pressure brought couldn't start moving today, the better off you'll but Federal Aviation Ad- and smashed a window,
snow to the mountains again," Williams said. "Every be because the roads will ministration data showed hurting a cab driver, who
and wind and rain along time we stopped I was like, be being cleared, and our that travelers were still ex- was taken to a hospital with
the California and Oregon 'Is this it? Are we going to snow is pretty much wrap- periencing delays of more an arm injury, police said.
coasts. Drivers on Interstate be here overnight?'" ping up," said Tyler Hasen- than an hour. The northern reaches of
5 near the Oregon-Califor- It took more than 17 hours stein, a weather service At Chicago's O'Hare Air- Wisconsin saw 7 to 10 inch-
nia border spent 17 hours or to reach Redding, Califor- meteorologist in Minneap- port, one of the nation's es of snow, with more com-
more in stopped traffic as nia, where they got a hotel olis. busiest, the FAA said heavy ing down. The Milwaukee
blizzard conditions whirled room, she said. At the city's main airport, traffic was causing delays airport reported wind and
outside. Some slept in their Snow and downed trees Delta Air Lines filled de-icing of up to 30 minutes and rain, but there was no snow
vehicles. and power lines closed tanks, called in extra flight rising. Airlines worried that within a hundred miles of
"It's one of those things, roads. Others were re- dispatchers and assigned things could get worse if the city.
you couldn't make it up if duced to a single lane, some of its 20 in-house me- winds picked up. Continued on Page 7