Hundreds of airline flights were grounded Wednesday, a major league baseball game was called and six people were killed in accidents on icy roads as yet another spring snowstorm hit the upper Midwest.
"It's kind of flying sideways," hardware store owner Harvey Neu said in Menomonee Falls, Wis. "It's not like a gently falling snowfall. It's more of a get-out-of-my-face type of thing."
The storm temporarily knocked out power for tens of thousands of households and businesses in the region.
More than 550 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport because of poor visibility, said city aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham.
Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport also had delays and cancellations.
"I think we are all cranky about the weather," said Pat Rowe, spokeswoman for General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. "We are ready to be done with winter, but that's the month of April in Wisconsin. ... There's really nothing that anyone can do besides book a flight to a warm location before the storm hits."
Milwaukee smashed a snowfall record for the date with 7 inches. The previous record of 3.2 inches was recorded in 1997.
North Dakota and South Dakota measured snowfalls of about 7 inches.
Six people were killed in two separate accidents in Iowa, including a woman and her two children when their minivan collided with another minivan in the state's south-central region.
Wednesday's Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs game was postponed because of the storm. During the weekend, heavy snow wiped out scheduled Mariners-Indians games for four straight days at Cleveland. The Indians moved their home stand against the Angels to Milwaukee's enclosed field.
In Minnesota, slick roads were the apparent cause of a pileup involving at least 70 vehicles along Highway 169 just southwest of Minneapolis. At least two people were seriously injured, the State Patrol said.
More than two dozen school districts canceled classes Wednesday across southern Minnesota, where as much as 8 inches fell in some areas. More closed in Iowa, where numerous vehicles had slid off slippery highways.
Snow this late is not that unusual, said weather service meteorologist Andrew Krein in Chicago.
"Typically every few years we'll get some snow in April," Krein said. "Snow in April is not unheard of."
Thirteen years ago, in fact, Sioux Falls, S.D., got 10 inches of snow on April 28.
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Associated Press writers Carrie Antlfinger in Milwaukee, Nafeesa Syeed in Des Moines, Iowa, and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed to this report.
(UPDATES with canceled flights, snowfall levels, vehicle pileup. corrects Cleveland Indian game cancellations. AP Video. AP Video.)
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