By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Northeast was getting ready Tuesday for its first major snowstorm of the season, just as the Midwest began to escape snow and ice that snarled travel after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Some parts of northern New England were expecting up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of snow. A windy, potentially icy storm was headed to the region and could soak some parts of the area’s six states while piling snow in others, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories in states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and New York ahead of the snow’s arrival.
The winter blast is set to arrive days after more than 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) of snow fell at Chicago O’Hare International Airport over the weekend, setting a record for the highest single calendar day snowfall in November at the airport, according to the weather service. The previous record was set in 1951.
Snow in the Great Lakes region was tapering off, but the new storm was heading to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow by Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Orrison.
“It’s going to be the first snowfall of the season for many of these areas, and it’s going to be rather significant,” Orrison said.
Winter weather on tap in Northeast next
The National Weather Service issued a warning for coastal Maine from Tuesday morning until Wednesday morning, stating that residents “should delay all travel if possible” due to snow. The state is one of many that is in for its first wallop of snow of December, forecasters said.
In New Hampshire, the Department of Transportation on Sunday invited residents to submit names for its second annual name-a-plow competition.
“Welcome to The Department of the Seven Snowplows, our winter twist on a classic tale. Hawthorne had gables. We have orange snowplows just waiting for the perfect name,” the department said on social media.
Last winner’s top name was Ctrl-Salt-Delete. This season’s winners will be announced in January.
Pennsylvania prepares for snow
With plowable snow expected to coat large parts of Pennsylvania, crews began to treat lanes along the 565-mile (909-kilometer) Pennsylvania Turnpike system on Monday, said the agency’s press secretary, Marissa Orbanek. Vehicle restrictions on many interstates in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, including on the turnpike system’s Northeast Extension, from the Lehigh Valley to Clarks Summit, will be imposed at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
More than 600 equipment operators and safety workers are available to help clear the turnpike’s 2,900 miles (4,667 kilometers) of lanes, Orbanek said. The turnpike’s winter staffing schedule began in mid-November, and 23 maintenance sheds are staffed around the clock.
“We really prepare for snow all year long,” Orbanek said.
Travelers recovering in Midwest
In Chicago, Don Herrian was among the crowds of travelers at O’Hare on Sunday, hoping to make it back home after Thanksgiving as hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled following a winter storm in the Great Lakes region.
The 76-year-old retiree from Ardmore, Oklahoma, had visited his daughter and her family in Indianapolis. He said his first flight was three hours late, and his connecting flight to Oklahoma City from Chicago was already running another two hours behind.
“It is what it is,” Herrian said. “It’s congested, but that’s expected due to the snow, the delays and the holidays.”
Roads leading to O’Hare were packed Sunday with slow-moving vehicles, even after the roads had been cleared of snow. Planes were being de-iced at several airports across the country on Sunday, including at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Associated Press reporters Adam Schreck in Chicago, Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and photojournalist Nam Y. Huh in Chicago contributed to this report.