Winter's Opening Day Packs a Punch to Northern US

Even hardy Minnesotans buckled to the cold, calling off a Minneapolis holiday parade Sunday that is automatically canceled if the wind chill dips below minus 20.

Elliott Graham, of Lynn, Mass., portraying Santa Claus, waves to pedestrians including an emergency medical services worker in Salem, Mass., Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 following a winter storm. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

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Temperatures in northern Maine early Sunday included minus 40 on the Big Black River in Aroostook County and minus 35 in Allagash. Gov. John Baldacci announced a noon start for state government offices on Monday.

The storm battering Maine also produced sleet and freezing rain in New York and New Jersey, delaying flight arrivals. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport canceled about 150 flights Sunday.

As the weather interfered with airports in Northern states, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston had delays on average of about five hours.

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And while officials in the Pacific Northwest were relieved Sunday that a storm there failed to meet expectations, hundreds of travelers nonetheless lingered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, waiting for their next flight.

At Seattle's Greyhound bus terminal, dozens were stranded overnight, passengers said. No Greyhound buses were running there Sunday.

Interstate 90, Washington state's main east-west route, reopened Sunday across Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Range.

Washington Emergency Management spokesman Rob Harper said fewer than 5,000 customers lost power, and state officials said county emergency operations were scaling back or closing.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Tarm, Carla K. Johnson and Megan Reichgott in Chicago and Jim Irwin in Detroit.

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