MI Winter Storm: Power Outages, Travel Delays

MICHIGAN — A winter storm crossing Michigan Friday morning blanketed most of the state with moderate snowfall and gusty winds that left thousands of people without power and canceled hundreds of flights.

Most areas across Michigan saw less than expected snowfall Friday morning, including southeast Michigan where roughly 1 to 3 inches fell overnight, according to the National Weather service.

Some areas north of metro Detroit could still more than 5 inches of snow by the end of Friday, while another 1 to 2 inches of snowfall is still possible in the Detroit area, according to the National Weather service. Southeast Michigan remains under a winter storm warning until 4 a.m. Saturday.

The northern and western portions of the state were still under a blizzard warning until 7 p.m. Saturday, as forecasters warned more than 10 inches of snow is still possible, mostly along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Temperatures plummeted across Michigan Friday morning as an arctic blast moved in, bringing strong winds with gusts reaching up to 50 miles per hour, according to the National Weather service.

Temperatures in most areas across the state, including southeastern Michigan fell into the teens with wind chills approaching -20 degrees, according to the National Weather service.

As of Friday morning, more than 7,000 people were without power due to the high winds. Roughly 3,000 Consumer's Energy and 4,000 DTE customers in the Detroit area were left in the dark. Forecasters warned the strong winds will peak during the afternoon hours, when they expect those numbers to climb.

There were also more than 300 canceled flights at Detroit Metro Airport on Friday morning, causing headaches for travelers, according to FlightAware. Officials also expect those numbers to climb throughout Friday as well.

Major airlines like Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, American, Spirit, Alaska Airlines and others are all now issuing waivers and rebooking windows for flyers into and out of Detroit Metro Airport.

The winter storm was also causing troubler travelers on the road, as the blowing snow was making for slippery roads and slow moving traffic Friday morning.

Every major freeway in the metro Detroit area saw some delay Friday morning, most because of crashes, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. The slippery roads also forced all SMART bus services to shut down in the metro Detroit area through Christmas Day.

Forecasters warned that even with less snow on the road, the strong winds could blow around snow, reducing visibility to less than a half mile at times. They also warned that cold wind chills as low as 25 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.