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http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200812/20081223/article_385558.htm
Norm Buckley straps on cross-country skis to get from his Washington home to church on Sunday. The cold is expected to persist for the next couple of days though temperatures are predicted to rise slightly by Christmas Day.
Storms hammer northern US
Created: 2008-12-23 2:43:09
WEEKEND storms in the northern half of the United States knocked out power to thousands of people on Sunday and created nightmarish conditions for holiday travelers coast to coast on the first official day of the US winter.
Gusty winds in the Midwest, where wind chills dipped to minus 30 degrees Celsius or lower, produced whiteout conditions that contributed to at least three vehicle pileups in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Blizzard warnings were issued for parts of Maine, where up to 61 centimeters of snow was expected. Forecasters warned that strong winds could create more whiteout conditions and deep drifts.
"This is a classic nor'easter," said meteorologist John Cannon. "It's got all the features."
Parts of Iowa and Illinois were under blizzard warnings. Power was knocked out to more than 35,000 people on Sunday in Illinois shortly after being restored to most who had lost it after a storm last week, utilities said.
"There was so much icing down there on the trees and power lines; then the wind is coming through and knocking things down," said Kim Johnson, spokeswoman for Commonwealth Edison, the largest electric utility in Illinois.
More than 70,000 homes and businesses in Indiana remained in the dark after an ice storm that struck on Thursday. Wind gusts topping 50 kilometers per hour hindered repair work.
Wind gusts up to 56 kilometers per hour blew snow and contributed to crashes involving at least 30 vehicles on Sunday in southwestern Michigan on Interstate 94, a major route between Chicago and Detroit, officials said. One man died in the pileup, which shut down 10 kilometers of eastbound lanes, state police said.
At least four semitrailer trucks and about a dozen cars crashed on a stretch of interstate highway in neighboring Van Buren County, said state police.
More than 20 vehicles were involved in a pileup on Sunday on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin's Ozaukee County that briefly shut down southbound lanes. Eight people were injured, but nearly all have been released, officials said.
Gusty winds in the Midwest, where wind chills dipped to minus 30 degrees Celsius or lower, produced whiteout conditions that contributed to at least three vehicle pileups in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Blizzard warnings were issued for parts of Maine, where up to 61 centimeters of snow was expected. Forecasters warned that strong winds could create more whiteout conditions and deep drifts.
"This is a classic nor'easter," said meteorologist John Cannon. "It's got all the features."
Parts of Iowa and Illinois were under blizzard warnings. Power was knocked out to more than 35,000 people on Sunday in Illinois shortly after being restored to most who had lost it after a storm last week, utilities said.
"There was so much icing down there on the trees and power lines; then the wind is coming through and knocking things down," said Kim Johnson, spokeswoman for Commonwealth Edison, the largest electric utility in Illinois.
More than 70,000 homes and businesses in Indiana remained in the dark after an ice storm that struck on Thursday. Wind gusts topping 50 kilometers per hour hindered repair work.
Wind gusts up to 56 kilometers per hour blew snow and contributed to crashes involving at least 30 vehicles on Sunday in southwestern Michigan on Interstate 94, a major route between Chicago and Detroit, officials said. One man died in the pileup, which shut down 10 kilometers of eastbound lanes, state police said.
At least four semitrailer trucks and about a dozen cars crashed on a stretch of interstate highway in neighboring Van Buren County, said state police.
More than 20 vehicles were involved in a pileup on Sunday on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin's Ozaukee County that briefly shut down southbound lanes. Eight people were injured, but nearly all have been released, officials said.
Agencies
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