Drivers experience winter weather perilous as storms spread throughout the
U.S.

SIOUX CITY, IOWA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 19, 2008) NBC -
A blast of snow and freezing rain knocked out power, threatened
wheat crops and could ruin the last shopping weekend before Christmas as a
storm moved from the U.S. upper Midwest to the country's Northeast on Friday
(December 19).

In Sioux City, Iowa nearly ten inches of snow piled up by daybreak
making driving dangerous.

In Des Moines, Iowa, drivers were stranded on roads, scraping ice from
their windshields.

The winter storm disrupted travel plans for thousands and tested the
ability of the newly downsized airline industry to cope with weather-related
hassles.

Chicago bore the brunt of the snow and ice, which snarled operations at
O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport. But as the storm
headed east, airlines braced for traffic backups.

The Chicago Aviation Department reported nearly 300 flight
cancellations at Chicago's two main airports. At least 500 flights were
cancelled at New York's three main airports, most of them at Newark.

American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, which has a hub at O'Hare said
it cancelled 45 round-trip flights from O'Hare because of bad weather. Delays
ranged from 30 minutes to an hour. The carrier also cancelled some flights in
New York and Boston in anticipation of winter storms.

Wet and snowy weather wreaked havoc for drivers between Sacramento,
California and Reno, Nevada.

Drivers navigating the snowy Sierra Nevada highway between the two
cities slipped and slid on ice mixed with rain.
Forecasters are expecting snow for Reno and Tahoe, California almost
every day at least until Christmas.