1st snow of the season hits Midwest as South braces for freezing temperatures
Snow Potential – Through Wednesday Map (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — The first snow of the season struck the Midwest this weekend, and more snow is on the way for the North in the next few days while freeze warnings hit the South.
The snow forecast
Very heavy snow — at rates of 2 inches per hour — fell overnight in Valparaiso, Indiana, with more than 9 inches of snow reported as of early Monday.
South Bend, Indiana, has reported more than 8 inches of snow, while more than 1 foot of snow has fallen in some parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
Chicagoans are waking up to 1 to 2 inches of snow, with another brief round of light snow expected Monday morning.
This lake effect snow event will continue along eastern and southern Lake Michigan through Monday afternoon. Some areas along the eastern side of Lake Michigan could get more than 6 inches of snow on Monday.
One to 2 inches of snow is possible in Indianapolis, and even Louisville, Kentucky, could get up to 1 inch of snow.
In the Smoky Mountains, places like Gatlinburg, Tennessee, could see up to 8 inches of snow, and higher elevations could get up to 15 inches of snow and strong wind gusts.
Further east, areas downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will see major lake effect snow on Monday night.
The deep freeze forecast
Parts of the South are waking up to their coldest weather of the season on Monday, with temperatures dropping below freezing in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Dozens of daily record low temperatures are possible across the Southeast on Tuesday morning. The temperature is forecast to plunge to 28 degrees in Wilmington, North Carolina; 31 degrees in Savannah, Georgia; 30 degrees in Mobile, Alabama; and 26 degrees in Montgomery, Alabama. Even Miami is forecast to drop to 48 degrees.
Travelers walk through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 11, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — At least 893 flights were canceled in the United States on Wednesday morning, with departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta leading the list of the most cancellations, according to FlightAware.
Another 1,117 flights had been delayed as of about 1 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware.
Chicago O’Hare International topped the tracker’s list of cancellations, with 45 as of about 1 p.m. local time. Next was Denver with 43 and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson with 37.
Wednesday’s flight cancellations appeared set to continue a dayslong streak of headaches at American airports, which were operating under duress amid a federal government shutdown.
The cancellations and delays have slowly crept down throughout the week, however, as Congress appeared ready to end the shutdown. The House of Representatives was set to vote on the bill Wednesday night.
As of 8:30 a.m. ET, there were no staffing issues with the exception of the ongoing shortage unrelated to the shutdown at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
More than 1,200 flights in the U.S. were canceled on Tuesday, while another 2,600 were delayed. Winter weather that caused headaches in the Midwest and East on Monday and Tuesday were also no longer a factor for airports on Wednesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration continues to limit capacity at 40 major U.S. airports. Many federal employees, including Transportation Security Administration staffers, were working without pay as the partisan impasse dragged on in Washington.
And while things have improved, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the cancellations could cause major issues this weekend if the shutdown does not come to an end.
“If the government doesn’t open, it’s going to radically slow down,” Duffy said during a press conference on Tuesday. “If this doesn’t open, you might have airlines that say, ‘We’re going to ground our planes.’ That’s how serious this is.”
Airlines have not received any guidance on whether flight reductions will be adjusted once the shutdown ends, according to Chris Sununu, the president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade association representing U.S. carriers.
Unless another directive is issued by the FAA, airlines plan to implement an 8% flight reduction on Thursday and a 10% reduction on Friday, Sununu said.
Once the government shutdown ends, it will take about a week before air travel operations return to normal, Sununu said. If the shutdown ends this week, smooth travel is expected over the Thanksgiving holiday, he said.
“There’s still plenty of time to make sure that everything over the Thanksgiving week goes off as originally planned,” Sununu said during a press conference on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting at the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 23, 2025 in New York City. World leaders convened for the 80th Session of UNGA, with this year’s theme for the annual global meeting being “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, who took office in January with a pledge to seek retribution against his political foes, made clearer than ever his eagerness to use the weight of the Justice Department against his perceived enemies this week.
Asked by reporters Friday who was next on his list a day after the DOJ brought a two-count indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, Trump said, “It’s not a list — but I think there will be others.”
Comey, who Trump fired from his post in 2017, had been a target of Trump since he oversaw the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey,” Trump wrote on social media following Thursday’s indictment. “He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation.”
The former FBI chief has been charged with making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of an investigative proceeding before Congress, related to his 2020 congressional testimony regarding the FBI’s Russia probe.
Comey, who said in a statement that he was innocent of the charges, said in an Instagram video, “My family and I have known for years that there are costs for standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees and you shouldn’t either.”
The charges were brought by the newly appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, former White House aide Lindsey Halligan, who took over the role after Trump ousted U.S. attorney Erik Siebert after sources say Siebert expressed doubts internally about bringing a case against Comey.
“What they did was so terrible and so corrupt,” Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday, referring to those involved in the Russia probe. “Comey placed a cloud over the entire nation.”
Trump, in the same interview, hinted at potentially charging former CIA Director John Brennan in relation to the Russia probe.
“We’ll have to see what happens. It is up to the Justice Department, but I can tell you, it is a group of people that was very disappointing,” Trump said. “This makes Watergate look like peanuts.”
Comey’s indictment came just days after top federal prosecutors at U.S. attorney’s offices around the country received a directive to prepare to launch investigations into the Open Society Foundations, a group funded by the billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, on potential charges ranging from support of terrorism to racketeering, sources told ABC News.
“This DOJ, along with our hard-working and dedicated U.S. Attorneys, will always prioritize public safety and investigate organizations that conspire to commit acts of violence or other federal violations of law,” a DOJ spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations called the accusations “politically motivated attacks.”
FBI Director Kash Patel disputed accusations that the DOJ’s probes were motivated by politics.
“Career FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others,” he posted online Friday. “They called the balls and strikes and will continue to do so. The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate — it’s hypocrisy on steroids.”
Democrats like Sen. Peter Welch weren’t buying it.
“President Trump and his Justice Department’s indictment of James Comey is a new low for our democracy. The reason for the indictment is clear: Comey is Trump’s political adversary,” Welch wrote on X.
Asked by reporters about the indictment on Friday, Trump said, “They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history. What they’ve done is terrible. And so I hope — frankly, I hope there are others, because you can’t let this happen to a country.”
“It’s about justice, not revenge,” Trump said. “It’s about justice.”
ABC News’ Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
(LUMBERTON, N.C) — At least two people were killed and seven others are in critical condition after a mass shooting took place early Saturday at a large party in North Carolina, according to officials.
A total of 13 people were shot in the incident just outside of Maxton, according to the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
Over 150 people ran from the scene of the shooting before law enforcement arrived, according to the sheriff’s office.
The shooting was an isolated incident and there is no current threat to the community, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We are asking that anyone with information regarding this incident or anyone that was at the scene when the shooting occurred, to make contact with Sheriff’s Investigators by calling 910-671-3100 or email sheriff.wilkins@robesoncountysonc.gov,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
