Tens of millions of Americans are facing dangerous and destructive weather conditions as snowstorms sweep across the northwestern and midwestern states, while flooding threatens the eastern coast and tornadoes are possible in the south. The National Weather Service has warned that residents in vast areas of the Midwest were hit this morning, Friday, with conditions reminiscent of snowstorms, featuring heavy snowfall and gusty winds reaching speeds of up to 96 kilometers per hour, expected to continue until tomorrow, Saturday.
"We're in the thick of it! Just getting started here in Davenport, Iowa. Heavy snow and gusty winds will make travel treacherous. Also, Chicago's O'Hare airport is already experiencing ground stops," tweeted Weather & Radar USA.
The website "PowerOutage.us," which tracks power outages, reported that 190,000 homes lost electricity across five states, including Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Airlines canceled or delayed more than 3,600 flights nationwide on Friday, including grounding planes from taking off or landing at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago due to wind and snow obstructing visibility.
The number of canceled flights exceeded 1,600 after power outages affected businesses in 12 states. The FlightAware website reported that a total of 1,643 flights were canceled and 1,238 were delayed by 9:12 AM local time.
