Holiday Travel ‘Difficult to Impossible’ as Major Winter Storm Strikes

Just as millions of Americans were preparing to start off to their holiday destinations, a powerful winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow over parts of the Rockies.

The National Weather Service has announced winter storm warnings and advisories from Oregon to Arizona and a flash flood watch from north of Anaheim to the border with Mexico.

“Travel will be very difficult to impossible, including Wednesday and Thanksgiving,’’ it said. “Damage to trees and power lines is possible.”

Expect hazardous road conditions in many areas in addition to numerous flight delays and cancellations for the next 72 hours.

The storm is snarling air traffic, with over 615 flight cancellations and 2,240 delays as of 2:30 p.m. EST, according to Flightstats.com, a service that tracks such information.  Denver International Airport alone is reporting the cancellation of 207 arrivals and 242 departures.

The storm is expected to continue east to the Plains and Upper Midwest on Wednesday, with snowfalls ranging between six to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) in the region.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)