Midwest commuters face blizzard as they head back to work

Commuters in Chicago and across the Midwest will face a blizzard packing more than a foot of snow and whiteout conditions as they head back to work on Monday after the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Blizzard warnings were in effect early on Monday in northeast Missouri through metro Chicago and northeast into Michigan as the storm brought winds up to 45 miles per hour (72 kph) and more than 12 inches (15 cm) of snow to the region, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

The service said in an advisory that travel on Monday morning will be “very dangerous to impossible” and the heavy snow was difficult to shovel and may cause falling tree limbs and power outages.

The storm canceled 1,270 flights on Sunday for travelers trying to get home after the Thanksgiving weekend.

Most of the cancellations were of flights departing or arriving at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport, which combined saw a total of about 900 flights canceled. At Kansas City International Airport, nearly 200 flights were canceled.

Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Sunil Nair