April 15 (UPI) — A weekend system of spring snowstorms continued to pound the central United States on Sunday, leaving thousands without power and creating difficult travel conditions.
About 280,000 DTE Energy customers in southeast Michigan were left without electricity Sunday afternoon after ice storms struck the state overnight. Consumers Energy, which serves electrical customers in most of the rest of the state, reported an additional 44,000 customers were experiencing outages, bringing the statewide total to 324,000.
Michigan State Police reported the roads in Metro Detroit were relatively free of crashes, with only two on the freeway system Sunday morning, as temperatures in the area are expected to rise above freezing threats of freezing rain should subside.
National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Kavinsky said snowstorms in Wisconsin brought 2 feet of snow in communities near Green Bay, breaking single-day snowfall in several cities, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Church services and other events in Milwaukee were canceled as officials urged motorists to stay off partially snow covered roads as plows and salt trucks attempt to clear the roadways.
Several departing flights out of Mitchell International Airport were also canceled due to weather issues at other airports around the country.
“Planes are able to land and take off just fine at Mitchell,” airport spokesman Harold Mester said.
Flight operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport resumed Sunday morning after the airport suspended all incoming and outgoing activity Saturday, canceling hundreds of flights.
The airport said it had two runways open, one for arrivals and one for departures, adding Saturday’s cancelations will likely impact Sunday’s flights and encouraging passengers to contact their airline to confirm their flight’s status.
Several highways in Minneapolis were also closed after 13 inches of snowcovered the state.
The National Weather Service said winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were in place for the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region Sunday afternoon.
Ice storm warnings were also in effect for portions of western New York and blizzard warnings remained in effect for parts of Wisconsin.
As of Saturday, three deaths were blamed on the storm system Saturday including a man in Nebraska, a woman in Wisconsin and a toddler in Louisiana.
