Winter Storm Disrupts Flights, Kills at Least 3

A storm spread snow and sleet across the Midwest and Northeast on Friday, giving many students a day off from school and frustrating thousands of travelers with flight delays and cancellations.

South of the snow, heavy rain fell across portions of Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Ohio and West Virginia. A boat capsized during a rescue effort along a swollen creek outside Charleston, W. Va., leaving one person dead and two presumed drowned. Four others were rescued. The weather was blamed for the deaths of a Virginia couple in a multivehicle accident in Harrisburg, Pa.

The winter storm gave students a longer-than-expected Presidents Day holiday weekend as schools closed or dismissed early.

In Illinois, the snow began falling early Friday and didn’t taper off until late in the day. The snowfall ranged from 9 to 12 inches in the northern suburbs and 3 to 4 inches on Chicago’s South Side.

The storm brought 9 inches of snow to parts of Iowa and Nebraska. More than 8 inches fell on southern Wisconsin and up to 6 inches in parts of Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Across the Midwest and Northeast, American Airlines and American Eagle canceled more than 900 flights. At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, United Airlines canceled 250 flights. Northwest Airlines canceled 216 flights scheduled to arrive at or depart from its Detroit-area hub.

There were scattered cancellations at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and numerous cancellations and delays at La Guardia Airport.

Flights were also canceled at airports in Newark, N.J., Philadelphia and Boston.