Storm takes icy misery northeast

ALBANY, N.Y. —  A storm system slid across the Northeast bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain Sunday, glazing roads and tying up air travel after knocking power out for thousands of customers in the Midwest.

At least 10 traffic deaths in the Midwest have been blamed on weather-related traffic accidents.

Winter storm warnings were in effect into today in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and into Tuesday in parts of New York state. On the other side of the weather system, warnings were issued for parts of Michigan, where freezing rain and sleet were predicted to turn to snow late Sunday.

The National Weather Service said a foot of snow was possible in the mountains of northern New England, with a potential for 20 inches in northern Maine. In higher elevations of upstate New York, 13 inches of snow was possible. Snow and high winds were forecast for parts of western New York.

“It’s kind of a mess -- probably the best way to term it in one word,” meteorologist Bob Kilpatrick said in Albany.

Hundreds of flights into the New York City area’s main airports -- Kennedy, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia -- were delayed up to two hours Sunday.

Airlines at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport worked to move travelers stranded when hundreds of flights were canceled as the storm struck there Saturday. Flights also were canceled Saturday at airports in Des Moines and Milwaukee as blowing snow reduced visibility.

Utility companies in Illinois said electricity was back on for most of the nearly 140,000 customers who lost power Saturday. Ice also had blacked out more than 14,000 customers around Iowa, utilities reported.

One member of the Purdue University ice hockey team was killed Saturday when a team van overturned on a slippery Indiana highway, school officials said.

Elsewhere, the weather was blamed for three deaths in Wisconsin, three in Michigan, and one each in North Dakota, Illinois and Colorado.

A separate storm raked the Oregon and Washington coasts, with winds gusting higher than 100 mph in some spots.