Blizzard Forces Thousands of Flight Cancellations

Monster storm bears down on Midwest
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 1, 2011 3:53 PM CST
Blizzard Forces Thousands of Flight Cancellations
Fe Gillies, left, visiting from Australia, poses for a photo in front of a giant Super BowlXLV sign in Dallas Tuesday.   (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Layers of dangerous ice and blowing snow closed roads and airports from Texas to Rhode Island as a monster storm began bearing down on the nation and those in its frigid path started to believe it would live up to its hype. Ice fell first and was expected to be followed by up to two feet of snow in some places, including Chicago. In St. Louis, the NHL had to cancel tonight's game. Making matters worse was the expectation of brutal cold and winds gusting to near 60 mph.

Snow and ice fell to varying degrees from Colorado to Maine, tornadoes were possible in the South, and the weather disrupted the lives of millions. Multiple airports were at least temporarily shut down due to ice, including in Dallas—the destination for thousands trying to get to Sunday's Super Bowl. Flight-tracking service FlightAware had logged almost 6,000 cancellations by midday. More were expected tomorrow. In Tulsa, the blizzard halted publication of the Tulsa World newspaper for the first time in its 105-year-old history. (More blizzard stories.)

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