Storm blankets Midwest in snow, creeps toward Northeast

CHICAGO -- A slow-moving winter storm blanketed a large swath of the Plains and Midwest in snow Sunday, forcing the cancellation of roughly 2,000 flights, making roads treacherous and forcing some people to rethink their plans to attend Super Bowl parties.

Blizzard conditions developed in Chicago -- where more than a foot had fallen by evening -- and other Midwest locales as the system slowly crept eastward into Pennsylvania and western New York. Parts of New England still digging out from a storm early last week were readying for yet another round of snow to last through today.

Here's the outlook:

The storm

The snowstorm was expected to be the most far-reaching of the season to date, stretching from Nebraska to Maine, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters also said the storm was moving unusually slowly, meaning accumulations of between 10 to 16 inches of snow are possible for parts of northern Illinois, Indiana and northwest Ohio.

"It's not wise to travel, unless you have an emergency," said David Beachler a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Chicago area.

Craig Owens, an English professor at Drake University, was one of the many Midwest residents who spent the morning shoveling their driveways.

"I'm not going to make it to the gym anyway, so I've got to get a workout somehow," said Owens, whose home in Des Moines, Iowa, got about 10 inches of snow.

Travel and outages

More than 1,950 flights were canceled in the Midwest, the vast majority of which were in or out of Chicago's two airports.

Chicago's Department of Aviation said about 1,300 departing flights were canceled from O'Hare International Airport and 300 at Midway International Airport. At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, more than 350 departing flights were canceled, and more delayed. About 20 flights were canceled from Omaha's Eppley Airfield.

The winds -- gusts up to 45 mph were expected in the Chicago area -- made road travel tricky too. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner cautioned against any travel and put state agencies on alert.

The Illinois Department of Transportation dispatched 350 trucks to clear and salt Chicago-area roadways before today's morning rush hour, and the city said late Sunday it was sending out 150 more pieces of heavy equipment for road work.

The weather led to power outages, including roughly 12,000 ComEd customers in Illinois on Sunday evening, most of them in Chicago's Cook County and suburban Will County. The weather cut power to nearly 8,000 northern Indiana homes and businesses.

The Chicago School District announced Sunday night that today's classes will be canceled because of the danger for children traveling to schools. The district, the nation's third largest, said it expected that classes would resume Tuesday.

In Nebraska, a truck driver and a 62-year-old woman were killed in separate traffic accidents on snowy roads.

Not again

Parts of New England -- still recovering from a blizzard early last week that buried the region in snow -- braced for today.

The weather service said that many parts of New England could get between 8 and 14 inches of snow and that parts of western Massachusetts and Connecticut could get as much as 16 inches. Southern Vermont was expected to get its first flakes around 2 a.m. today, and snow should start falling in Concord, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine, a few hours later.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered a delayed opening for state offices for today's winter storm.

Boston schools were scheduled to be closed today.

Philadelphia International Airport officials said they were gearing up to deal with the winter storm expected overnight, including pre-treating runways with chemicals.

A winter storm warning was in effect for New York City starting at 6 p.m. Sunday and was expected to remain in effect until this evening. Mayor Bill de Blasio said residents should be ready for a snowy and icy commute.

Associated Press writers Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa; Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Verena Dobnik in New York; and David N. Goodman in Detroit contributed to this report.

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