WeatherFanatics: Deadly Winter Storm Wallops Midwest, Northeast

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Deadly Winter Storm Wallops Midwest, Northeast

By Courtney Spamer, Meteorologist

March 13,2014; 5:25PM,EDT

A storm that expanded from the Midwest to New England Wednesday caused massive travel disruptions as well as damage across the mid-Atlantic and left mounds of snow putting this winter in the record books.
Snow started coming down in the Midwest early on Wednesday morning. Significant delays were reported on the roadways near Chicago.
These delays followed the storm as it moved eastward.
By the morning rush, excessive delays spread from O'Hare and Midway in Chicago to Buffalo Niagara International in western New York.

A pedestrian walks along a slushy Western Ave. Wednesday, March 12, 2014, in Blue Island, Ill. A late winter storm dumped more than 5 inches of snow in the Chicago area, causing power outages and headaches for commuters. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Slick roadways were reported in southern Michigan through the morning and into Ohio.
Precipitation started falling as rain in Ohio but quickly turned to snow after the with the arrival of the cold side of the storm.
Conditions deteriorated quickly, causing a massive pileup on the Ohio Turnpike, between Toledo and Cleveland.
More than 50 cars and trucks were involved in the large accident that killed three people and seriously injured a state trooper, according to Reuters.
Slick roadways and low visibility from the heavy snow continued to cause multi-vehicle accidents through the afternoon and evening into New York.
Part of I-90 in New York from Rochester to Waterloo was closed for a few hours due to a large accident.
Snow wasn't the only part of this storm causing problems Wednesday.
Even into Thursday, whipping winds behind the storm caused widespread power outages. On Wednesday, more than 26,500 FirstEnergy customers in Ohio were without power.
ComEd reported power outages over 45,000 across northern Illinois.
Even though snow did not reach the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas, the gusting winds managed to cause problems. Gusts over 45 mph knocked over trees, bringing power lines down with them. In southern Pennsylvania, the effects of the wind were worsened by the many toppled trees from previous storms this winter.
The heaviest corridor of snow stretched from Buffalo through central New York and into northern New England. At the Canada-United States border of Niagara Falls, more than 10 inches of snow fell.

Rochester and Syracuse areas in central New York topped out near 15 inches. Burlington, Vt., had over 18 inches of new snow as of Thursday morning.
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Even with smaller snowfall amounts from this storm made an impact around the Midwest and Northeast. A small or large amount of snow pushed some locations to become one of the top 5 snowiest winters on record.

After about 7 inches of snow from the latest storm, Toledo, Ohio, has officially had its snowiest winter on record.
The general 3 to 6 inches across the Chicago region Wednesday made it the third snowiest winter on record.
A roller-coaster ride of temperatures will continue to the Northeast and Midwest in the coming week as Mother Nature slowly transitions into spring. Despite milder temperatures Friday, the weekend will bring another shot of cold.

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