Parts of the Midwest are seeing heavy snowfall from a major winter storm that is blasting the Central U.S. this weekend, causing travel headaches for millions of people as they return home from Thanksgiving plans.
Winter Storm Warnings stretched across most of the Upper Midwest, covering areas from South Dakota and Nebraska to Ohio and Indiana through Sunday.
Chicago and Milwaukee are likely to be at the forefront of this storm, with snow really picking up on Saturday afternoon.
Both cities are likely to see 8-12 inches of snow, with some places in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin potentially seeing more than a foot of snow by Sunday.
On Saturday morning, roads in Chicago were partly covered with snow, according to Illinois Department of Transportation information.
Flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport were grounded for an hour on Saturday morning.
More than 500 flights to and from Chicago airports were canceled on Saturday morning with more disruptions expected through this weekend.
Flights to O’Hare were delayed on average by 266 minutes, or about 4.5 hours through Saturday afternoon.
In Springfield, Illinois, a Snow Emergency was declared through 8 a.m. CT on Sunday.
Significant snowfall was recorded across parts of Iowa on Saturday morning, with between 3 and 5 inches reported in central Iowa cities.
Most of Iowa could see upward of a foot of snow by Sunday morning, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Iowa Department of Transportation traffic maps showed major interstates across most of the state fully covered in snow, and warned that travelers should be ready to change their plans to hit the roads.
The closer to the Great Lakes, the more likely it is to see much higher snow totals, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
If the forecast verifies for Chicago, it could be one of the snowiest two-day November snow events in the city’s history.
Snow also stretched into Missouri on Saturday morning.
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Photos from O’Fallon early Saturday showed snow-covered streets and cars in a neighborhood.
The St. Louis metro area is expecting between 3-5 inches of snow, with a report in Weldon Spring, Missouri, on Saturday morning of two inches of snow.
The travel headaches across the Midwest are not only impacting the roads but the skies too.
Major airport hubs like Chicago O’Hare and Midway, Milwaukee Mitchell International, Minneapolis–St. Paul International and Detroit Metropolitan are likely to see flight disruptions through the weekend.
By Monday, travel troubles should ease up as conditions improve across the country.
Stay with FOX Weather for extended live coverage tracking the major snowstorm through the weekend.
