Storm Snarls Traffic, Cancels Classes, Hundreds Of Flights
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A winter storm unloaded up to a foot of snow as it passed across Michigan's Lower Peninsula, snarling traffic, stranding thousands of air travelers and extending the weekend for hundreds of schools.
The storm has made driving slow and dangerous throughout the region.
Cities Declare Snow Emergencies As Winter Storm Hits Metro Detroit Area
At least 400 departing flights were cancelled and many more delayed Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Spokesperson Mike Conway says there is a specific plan for significant weather event:
"We typically close both cross-wind runways because we don't have cross-wind conditions and just focused all of our resources
on the parallel runways," said Conway. "They will keep moving from parallel runway to parallel runway … we have four of them, and keep doing that throughout the entire length of the storm."
Conway urges flyers to check on the status of their flight before coming to the airport.
There were least 10 cancelled departures at Gerald Ford International Airport near Grand Rapids.
The National Weather Service reports 1 foot of new snow by Sunday evening in Schoolcraft, south of Kalamazoo. It says 9 inches fell in Jackson County.
Forecasts call for up to 14 inches through Monday.
At least 82 southeastern Michigan school districts have canceled Monday's classes, as have the University of Michigan-Flint and Mott Community College.
A Winter Storm Warning was issued for all of southeast Michigan until 7 a.m. Monday.
Hundreds of schools are closed.
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