Storm leaves nearly million without power

Wintry mix wreaks havoc on U.S., Canada; 10 deaths

Pedestrians cross State Street on the Capitol Square after a snowfall in Madison, Wis., Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Steve Apps)
Pedestrians cross State Street on the Capitol Square after a snowfall in Madison, Wis., Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Steve Apps)

CONCORD, N.H. - The first full day of winter brought a wild mix of weather across the U.S. on Sunday: ice and high wind in the Great Lakes and New England areas, flooding in the South, snow in the Midwest and record-shattering temperatures in the 60s and 70s along the mid-Atlantic.

Snow and ice caused power failures to 440,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, upstate New York and northern New England, and also left more than 475,000 people without electricity in eastern Canada. It could be days before the lights are back on everywhere.

At least 10 deaths were blamed on the storm, including five people killed in flooding in Kentucky and a woman who died after a tornado with winds of 130 mph struck in Arkansas. Four people were killed in Canada in highway accidents related to the storm.

The icy weather was expected to make roads hazardous through at least today from the upper Midwest to northern New England during one of the busiest travel times of the year.

As of mid afternoon, more than 700 airline flights had been canceled and more than 11,000 delayed, according to aviation tracking website FlightAware.com.

High-temperature records for the date occurred for the second straight day in the mid-Atlantic states because of a mass of hot, muggy air from the South.

In New York’s Central Park, the temperature reached 71 degrees, easily eclipsing the previous high of 63 from 1998. Records were also set in Wilmington, Del., (67); Atlantic City, N.J., (68); and Philadelphia (67). Washington tied its 1889 mark at 72.

Several other Northeast cities also broke records Saturday, when the temperatures reached into the high 60s.

Temperatures were expected to return to normal by tonight and Tuesday, dropping back into the 30s.

The scene was much more seasonal Sunday in Vermont, where Lynne White of West Charleston listened to the cracking of falling tree branches and gazed at the coating of ice on her home.

“It’s actually really pretty,” she said. “Not safe, I’m sure, but it’s pretty.”

Heavy snow in Wisconsin forced dozens of churches to cancel Sunday services. Milwaukee got about 9 inches; Manitowoc got 7 inches.

In New York’s St. Lawrence County, almost 2 inches of ice had accumulated by early Sunday, coating tree limbs and power lines, and a state of emergency was declared to keep the roads clear of motorists.

“It’s a big party weekend … before Christmas,” county dispatch operations supervisor Jim Chestnut said. “This put a little bit of a damper onto that.”

Despite a glaze of freezing rain in Maine, plenty of shoppers ventured to the outlet malls in Kittery, Maine, during the last weekend before Christmas.

In Canada, crews struggled to restore service to those without power in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Utility companies said power failures hit more than 400,000 customers in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick as crews struggled to restore service. Roads and sidewalks turned into skating rinks.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford called the storm one of the worst in the city’s history. Passengers were stranded at airports from Toronto to St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Ice and snow in Oklahoma were blamed for three traffic deaths on slick roads.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Christian Manuel Mejia-Reyes, 31, of Hot Springs, Ark., died Saturday afternoon when the van he was riding in went off icy U.S. 183 just north of Seiling and overturned.

Authorities say a 16-year-old boy died early Saturday after his car crashed and overturned on icy U.S. 64 near Tulsa, and a woman was killed Friday night in a collision on a slick roadway in northwest Oklahoma City.

The precipitation ended Sunday after dumping up to a half inch of ice in parts of the state and up to 6 inches of snow in northwestern Oklahoma. A gradual warming trend was forecast to start today, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Pike.

Power failures Sunday were also down from a peak of more than 30,000, according to officials with the state’s two largest utility companies, Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

Public Service Company of Oklahoma expected to have 99 percent of those failures repaired by late Sunday, said spokesman Stan Whiteford.

In Kentucky, five people were killed in flooding caused by the storm system. The bodies of three people were pulled from Rolling Fork River on Sunday after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters, a fourth person drowned in Carroll County after a four-wheeler overturned in high water, and a body was discovered in Ballard County near a car abandoned in a flooded ditch.

National Weather Service meteorologist Angie Lese in Nashville said power has been restored to most homes affected by a strong storm system that swept through most of Tennessee over the weekend.

The worst-hit area was probably in central Tennessee, where more than 19,000 residents went to bed without power Saturday night.

Weather advisories for most of the state were canceled Sunday.

Information for this article was contributed by Holly Ramer, Mary Esch, Bruce Shipkowski, Ken Miller, David Goodman, Rick Callahan, Steve Karnowski and staff members of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/23/2013

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