A winter storm was set to spread from the US midwest into north-eastern states on Saturday, leading to “widespread hazardous travel conditions” under as much as 12in of snow.
According to the federal National Weather Service (NWS), the “deepening” storm was set to move “across the Central Plains [and] will move north-east into the Great Lakes on Saturday and into northern New York state and New England on Sunday”.
Between 6in and 12in of snow were possible under the storm’s “widespread footprint”, the NWS said.
“Strong winds on the north-west side of this storm are expected to produce blizzard conditions into Saturday afternoon across the eastern half of North Dakota, the eastern half of South Dakota, far western Minnesota and north-west Iowa,” an NWS forecast said.
“Winds across these regions may gust to over 50mph, producing considerable blowing and drifting of snow and life-threatening travel conditions.”
It added: “Overall, this storm has the potential to produce widespread hazardous conditions across much of the north-eastern quarter of the nation over the next day and a half.”
For southern New England it would be the first significant snowfall of the year, with up to half a foot expected in many areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Parts of New York state could get up to a foot of snow.
On Friday night, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport for hours. The sprawling storm also forced the closure of schools, universities and government offices as it moved across the midwest.
The FAA lifted the stop at 9.45pm but by 9pm the Chicago department of aviation had reported nearly 690 flights gone at one of the nation’s busiest airports. There were 169 cancellations at Midway, Chicago’s other international hub. A winter weather advisory was issued for the Chicago area through early Saturday, with 2in to 5in of snow expected.
“If there is travel you don’t need to make, consider postponing it,” said meteorologist Ricky Castro.
Earlier on Friday, a plane slid off an icy taxiway at Kansas City international airport. The Delta flight was taxiing to be de-iced before flying to Detroit when the nosegear slipped off the taxiway, said Delta spokeswoman Martha Witt.
There were no reports of injuries aboard the Airbus A319, which was carrying 123 passengers and a crew of six.
The Kansas City airport was closed and numerous flights were canceled before resuming at noon. Most Friday flights from Nashville were canceled, disrupting travel for fans of the Tennessee Titans flying into Kansas City for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Chiefs.
Lambert international airport in St Louis reported more than 130 flights canceled and American Airlines suspended all flights to Missouri’s Columbia airport until noon on Saturday.
Kansas governor Laura Kelly closed state offices in the Topeka area, urging people to “stay safe and warm, exercise caution and allow road crews to do their job”.