Massive winter system threatens Midwest cities
Oklahoma was under a state of emergency, and 600 National Guard soldiers mobilized in Missouri compared to the plains of the Midwest and braced on Tuesday, after suffering a major winter storm system.
National Weather Service has predicted a blizzard conditions in parts of seven states, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Wind gusts up to 40 mph are expected.
Emergency in Oklahoma City, St. Louis and Chicago, among other sites, have promised they were ready to weather the storm. Leaders of several states, many of whom have already had a tough winter, also took their forces, if they encouraged people to stay home.
"People should batten down the hatches and keep the" governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon said. "The most likely place for the wounded on the road."
teeth chattering cold filter behind the system, temperatures plunging below zero in the plateau states.
The expansive storm eventually affect about three quarters of the United States. The weather service issued winter storm warnings, watches or advice in about 30 states.
Heavy snow is expected along an arc sweep of 1,500 miles, from central Texas and ending in Connecticut.
Together with the strength, the size of the system to distinguish it - stretches over 2,100 km south-west in Arizona Central Maine.
"A storm of this magnitude must be taken seriously," said Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
However, some of the biggest concerns Tuesday were in cities like Chicago.
"Snow Totals ... Wednesday with more than a foot in much of northern Illinois and extreme northwest Indiana," the weather service.
"This storm could be one of the 10 biggest snowstorms ever in town," said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.
According to the National Weather Service, snow storms of at least 15 inches of snow occurs about once every 19 years in Chicago. The last time this happened in January 1999, when 21.6 inches of snow was recorded in the city.
The officials added 120 garbage trucks with plows in particular near the city's fleet of 274 trucks in anticipation of heavy snow, "said Jose A. Santiago, executive director of the Office of the City Emergency Management.
Snowfall can increase the number of 2-3 inches a twenty hour northeast 25 mph and 40 mph, creating a dangerous "white-out conditions throughout the metropolitan area of Chicago, the weather service reported.
Snowstorm or blizzard conditions are expected on the south to Oklahoma City on Tuesday, where accumulations of snow, not measured in feet, not inches.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, issued a statement Monday declaring a state of emergency for 77 counties in the state.
"This disaster declaration will ensure that we can prepare for the coming winter storm," Fallin said. "We encourage every Oklahoman to prepare for the storm before it happens."
Mayor of Oklahoma City told residents to stay off the streets. Mick Cornett notes that the largest city and state government agencies would be closed on Tuesday and requested that local companies are doing their best to keep workers at home.
Officials of Oklahoma City residents urged to take steps at first - like water, batteries, medicines and canned food in case of power outages. The storm is expected snowfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour, according to the weather service.
"We are not strangers to the weather," said Van Michelann Ooteghem with operations in Oklahoma City Emergency Management. "We worked on this since last week."
Van Ooteghem said his office had been in contact with FEMA to ensure generators and supplies in the shelters where needed.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay tried to cut short a trip to New Mexico to return home in time for the storm, only to have the flight canceled due to bad weather, his chief of staff, Jeff Rainford said.
"So he has a (thousands), and deficient," said Rainford.
Other cities may be affected during the week include Milwaukee, Cleveland, Providence, Rhode Island and the cities of New York at Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany.
Heavy snowfall is not the only danger of this storm system. Freezing temperatures could pin, power lines and roads in the ice of the Missouri in southern Illinois and east central Indiana, forecasters said.
Ice accumulation of up to three quarters of an inch, it will be possible, and they may be combined with wind gusts due to branches falling on power lines, according to forecasts.
With temperatures expected to drop well below zero for Wednesday, parts of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma to discover some of the coldest air of the season, Morris said.
Strong winds will combine with cold temperatures create extremely dangerous wind chills are forecast.
But the wrath of the storm did not stop there.
Severe thunderstorms may develop along a cold front post of a central low pressure. This is a great potential of tornadoes in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.
winter weather prompts airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and many carriers are letting their customers have to alter their routes without typical fees.