'Once every 20 years' spring storm heads East

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'Once every 20 years' spring storm heads East 
System blamed for traffic deaths, flight, game cancellations

Weather forecasters were keeping a close watch Friday on a storm system developing over the central Plains and central Rockies.

More snow fell across the region and some parts of Kansas and Colorado braced for heavy blizzards.

Forecaster Brian Korty said the entire eastern half of the country would feel the brunt of it in the coming days, calling it the kind of storm that happens “once every 20 years.”

Along with the chances for more spring snow in some areas, Korty says the storm could bring flooding rains to the Northeast.

By Thursday, the deadly storm had grounded hundreds of flights and postponed a baseball game.

A jet trying to land at Traverse City, Mich., skidded 50 feet off a runway in the heavy snow early Thursday. The plane remained upright, and the 46 passengers and three crew members were unhurt, Pinnacle Airlines spokesman Phil Reed said.

Six deaths elsewhere were blamed on the slick conditions.

Ski slopes reopen
The worst of the storm blew into the Northeast, where the National Weather Service posted a winter storm warnings forecasting up to a foot of snow through Friday in some areas.

In Vermont, Mount Snow, a ski area that had already closed for the season, decided to reopen for the weekend after getting 5 inches of new snow by midday Thursday.

“Better late than never,” said Mount Snow spokesman Chris Lenois. “There’s no bare spots on the mountain. I’m looking out my window and it’s all white.”

Forecasters expected up to 10 inches in parts of New Hampshire. Up to 8 inches were expected in central Maine, already hit once this month with a storm that knocked out power across the state.

Parts of the Midwest got more than 9 inches of snow Wednesday and Thursday, with another inch or more expected as the snow tapered off during the day.

“I think we are all cranky about the weather,” said Pat Rowe, spokeswoman for Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, which had delays and cancellations Wednesday.

Flights cancelled
In Chicago, more than 550 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport because of poor visibility on Wednesday, though operations were mostly back to normal Thursday, said city aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham.

Colorado was expecting the worst of the storm Friday, when up to 18 inches of snow was expected to fall in the Rocky Mountain foothills.

Denver International Airport brought contractors in early to help move snow. United Airlines canceled 80 flights Thursday night and 40 Friday morning ahead of the storm and was rebooking passengers, spokesman Jeff Kovick said.

Milwaukee broke a snowfall record for the date with 7 inches; the previous record of 3.2 inches was recorded in 1997. The town of Taylor, in west-central Wisconsin, had 9.5 inches. North Dakota and South Dakota got about 7 inches of snow.

“It’s kind of flying sideways,” hardware store owner Harvey Neu said in Menomonee Falls, Wis. “It’s not like a gently falling snowfall. It’s more of a get-out-of-my-face type of thing.”

Wednesday’s Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs game had to be postponed because of the storm. Last weekend, heavy snow wiped out scheduled Mariners-Indians games for four straight days at Cleveland. The Indians moved their home stand against the Angels to Milwaukee’s enclosed field.