Late Winter Storm Spells 'Atrocious' Commute For Millions

Millions of Americans faced a rough morning commute Wednesday as forecasters warned up to two inches of snow would be falling by dawn in some areas.

A huge band of the country was under a winter storm warning by 4 a.m. ET - stretching from central Illinois to northern New York and Maine. Parts of New England could get as much as two feet of snow by late Thursday, The Weather Channel said.

The morning commute was expected to be trickiest in Detroit, Mich., and Cleveland, Ohio, where as much as eight inches of snow was expected on Wednesday. The storm was due to reach New England by the afternoon.

'I'll be very frank about this: Conditions will be atrocious for the Wednesday morning rush hour,' said Paul Gross, meteorologist and executive producer of weather at NBC station WDIV.

The south side of Chicago was already getting snow by 3 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) but the city was expected to only get three-to-five inches, The Weather Channel lead meteorologist Kevin Roth said.

'It's going to be pretty hard going for people trying to get to work, especially in the side streets that haven't been treated,' he said. 'Detroit has had a heavy season so I don't know how much salt they have left.'

The storm came from the Rockies and had already dumped 18 inches of snow in parts of Montana on Monday, and 8 inches across the Dakotas on Tuesday.

First published March 12 2014, 1:55 AM

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a freelance reporter at NBCNews.com, based in London. He started work there in August, 2013, and is responsible for covering breaking news and working with overseas correspondents. He started working at NBC News having been at its standalone startup BreakingNews.com, where he was a breaking news editor. There, he was responsible for using social media to find, verify and publish breaking stories. Before his work at Breaking News, he was a reporter in the regional press where he covered crime and courts.

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