A system with winds that reached 109 mph in Wyoming and 104 mph in Montana on Thursday headed for the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley Friday with gusts that could exceed 75 mph and affect as many as 70 million people.
That was the forecast from Fox Weather as what it described as a “clipper” where a fast-moving low pressure area swoops down from Canada bringing colder temperatures and sharp winds.
By Friday afternoon, more than a half million customers were without power in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan as well as other states as wind gusts also impacted air travel, causing delays in originating flights in airlines throughout the Midwest.
Nearly one thousand flights were reported delayed into or out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport by noon.
Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee were all under high wind warnings through much of Friday afternoon, with the strongest expected in the Ohio Valley and interior areas of the Northeast.
According to NBC Chicago, Indiana issued a “wind ban” for the Indiana Toll Road until 6 p.m. to prevent “high-profile vehicles including triple-tractor trailers, long doubles and high-profile oversize permit loads” from overturning.
A preview of wind gusts for the middle and eastern half of the U.S. were recorded Thursday, where wind speeds topped triple-digits in parts of the Northern Plains Thursday.
A 92 mph gust recorded in Cheyenne, Wyoming set a new daily record.
On Thursday, winds reached 109 mph in Centennial, Wyoming and 104 mph in Hilger, Montana, according to Fox Weather.
An industrial-size shed used to store salt was shredded by the winds in Arlington, Wyoming.
The intense winds also rolled over trucks on Interstate 70 and another highway in Jefferson County, Colorado.
