Holiday show of snow presents little trouble in Midwest

Fewer travelers resulted in fewer accidents, delays

A United Express regional jet passed in a cloud of blowing snow as crews at Denver International Airport cleaned up after a Christmas Day storm dumped up to 7 inches of snow. (J. David Ake/Associated Press)

DENVER - A winter storm delivered a white Christmas to parts of the Midwest, causing some traffic accidents and flight delays but no major problems because fewer travelers took to the roads and the sky yesterday.

Denver saw up to 7 inches of snow, resulting in a handful of flight delays. United Airlines canceled about 50 flights in Denver and some in Chicago to catch up from delays caused by an earlier Midwest storm.

Since yesterday was a light travel day, United was using it to move planes and crews to the airports where they need to be to carry holiday travelers home, said Robin Urbanski, airline spokeswoman. She said planes weren't crowded, so passengers on flights canceled yesterday were moved to others.

Besides Colorado, snow fell in parts of Wyoming, Minnesota, and the Nebraska Panhandle, sometimes making travel difficult. A semi-trailer slid off Interstate 80 in Wyoming and overturned near Chappell, and numerous other vehicles went into ditches on the interstate and other highways, Cheyenne County Sheriff's Deputy Fred Wiedeburg said. No injuries were reported.

In Nebraska, the most snow reported was 8 inches, 5 miles north of Harrisburg in Banner County. Wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour caused snow drifts of 3 feet or higher, said meteorologist Mike Sowko of the National Weather Service office in Cheyenne, Wyo.

By yesterday afternoon the skies had cleared and the winds had diminished.