Winter storm Gage is causing massive power outages, flight delays, and traffic snarls in the upper Midwest and New England.
“High winds from a winter storm sweeping across the nation have caused tens of thousands of customers from Michigan and Ohio and across the Northeast United States to lose electricity Monday morning,” according to the Weather Channel.
The report continued:
Blackouts hit more than 100,000 homes and businesses, according to poweroutage.us. At one point, more than 125,000 Ohio customers had no power. Steady winds began blowing between 20 and 30 mph early Monday. Gusts reached 50 to 70 mph from southwest to central and northeast Ohio, including around Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland. The strong winds were associated with a cold front moving through the state.
American, Delta, and United airlines have issued weather waivers for several Midwest airports including Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Denver, Forbes reported.
“Southwest Airlines has also issued a weather waiver for Minneapolis / St. Paul airport. In each case, airlines are allowing passengers some flexibility in rebooking travel for another day without any change fees.”
“Troopers performed 233 motorist assists and responded to 20 crashes during the storm yesterday. Fortunately, at this point there have been no reports of fatality crashes associated with this winter storm,” the state patrol tweeted Monday.
Airports in upper New England may experience delays and cancellations if the current weather conditions persist through New Year’s Day.
“Should the cold air push to the south, however, major travel disruptions could move into the Boston and New York City areas. Already, those airports are forecasted to receive around two inches of rain,” according to Forbes.
Sunday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol urged residents not to drive in the extreme weather conditions unless it was absolutely necessary:
City leaders in Fargo, North Dakota, issued a no travel advisory Sunday and told businesses to “be advised that weather conditions will become increasingly worse and travel will be nearly impossible for employees to commute home.”
“Throughout its history, the City has rarely issued no travel advisories and only does so when conditions warrant this designation,” the statement concluded.