Expect a Long, Cold Winter

Winter doesn't officially begin until Thursday, but snow and ice storms already have made driving an ordeal and prompted talk of shortened summer vacations from school because districts have been forced to take snow days.

Travelers found their flights delayed or canceled throughout the region as airlines struggled to avoid stranding passengers at airports. Flight operations were interrupted so runways could be plowed.

The National Weather Service predicted no thaw until April.

The season's first snow in Grand Rapids, Mich., struck Oct. 7. Since then 59 inches of the white stuff has piled up.

Where's El Niño when you need it?

Weather forecasters say the brutal weather is more of a return to normal weather patterns.

"The [90-day] outlook says temperatures will remain below normal and snowfall will be at or above normal all the way through March," NWS meteorologist Greg Smith told the Detroit Free Press.

Smith said you can't blame the weather on a phenomenon of any sort.

"We've stayed with a persistent trough through the central U.S.," he said. "Because of that trough, it allowed the persistent flow of northwest air. Usually it would shift off to the East Coast, but that hasn't happened, and I can't tell you why."

"I don't remember the last time I had to bundle up this much in December, but the weather has just been so weird lately you don't know what to expect," Richard Pham of Birmingham, Mich., told the Free Press.

Climate data indicate 10 to 15 years of mild winters usually are followed by 10 to 15 years of cold winters in North America and Europe.

About 17,000 homes and businesses were still without electrical power Tuesday in Arkansas from last week's ice storm that killed 13 people and caused $10.4 million damage across the state.

Entergy spokesman James Thompson said Tuesday that crews were working in "very cold conditions," but they expected to have all customers back on line by Wednesday night. At the height of the ice storm last Wednesday, 266,000 were without power in Arkansas, which meant in most cases they were also without heat.

Monday's storm was the fourth in a week and so heavy at times it forced Nebraska to pull snowplows off roads because conditions were too dangerous. About seven inches of fresh snow fell in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, accompanied by strong winds gusting to 56 mph.

"We all wish it would stop," weather bureau forecaster Josh Boustead told the Omaha World-Herald. "Even I'm getting a little tired of it."

But a respite is not to be. More snow is predicted for Wednesday, and when it's not snowing, temperatures are expected to drop below zero.

About eight inches of snow fell in parts of Minnesota Monday, on top of Sunday's seven inches, forcing dozens of school districts to close Tuesday. Wind chills as low as 40 degrees below zero were reported.

"When it gets down around zero, salt doesn't work very well," Norm Ashfeld, Minnesota highway maintenance superintendent, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "If it was 20 degrees warmer, it would be a piece of cake."

Three inches of snow is expected Wednesday.

Indiana weather forecasters issued a winter weather advisory for the central part of the state as part of the worst December the area has suffered through in a decade.

"I think we had a little bit of a break the last few winters," NWS meteorologist Jason Puma told the Indianapolis Star. "The last few winters we've been spoiled a bit."

"We haven't had any normal winters for the last three winters," weather service meteorologist Allan Fisher told the Hammond Times. "That's why people are getting so excited."

The good news is people apparently have polished up their winter driving skills.

"It's pretty quiet out there. We've had some slide-outs but no major accidents," a sheriff's dispatcher in northwest Indiana told the Times.

Flurries were still dusting the Chicago area Tuesday morning although the city breathed a sigh of relief after Monday forecasts for as much as 8 inches of snow failed to materialize.

Not everyone was dismayed by the weather. Peggy Korsmo-Kennon of Minneapolis told the Star Tribune the weather was the only thing that made her stay home from her job as executive director of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

"I love this!" she said. "It quiets life so fully."

As the Midwest enjoyed the respite, the Washington, D.C., area braced for as much as 4 inches of snow with fears of an ordeal during the evening rush hour.

Snow shut down the Southeast Tuesday, especially in the mountain areas of the Carolinas, with flurries falling as far south as northern Florida.