tailgating tradition. good tuesday morning, everyone. after record-breaking december warmth, the first major winter storm battering several states right now. absolutely. let s get right to the radar. that massive system stretching from wisconsin to maine bringing everything from snow to ice to heavy downpours. this is the scene right now overnight outside of boston. the snow and ice snarling traffic and delaying flights on one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. all this after the same system spawned deadly tornadoes in texas. abc s megan hughes has the latest. reporter: after an unusually warm december, the first snow falls in massachusetts this morning. ice melt and shovels fly off the shelves. it was kind of like black friday-ish. reporter: in new york state, plow trucks are ready. first storm of the year. there s a lot of accidents. hopefully they ll be very minor. reporter: weather around the country has given them a preview from high winds and icy r
clinic. and, millions of americans owed money from their cell phone carriers, but you need to claim it in the next 48 hours. good evening. and it s great to have you with us here on a tuesday night. as we come on the air, and with new year s eve almost here, millions remain trapped in a travel nightmare tonight. the deadly storm marching across the country, hitting the northeast. seven states under winter alerts. 20 million americans under flood warnings and watches. whiteout conditions on i-93 there in andover, massachusetts. a dangerous commute. and look at the ripple effect across the country. from the denver airport tonight, the crowds. thousands of cancellations at airports coast to coast. at chicago s o hare airport, stranded families and their children now sleeping on cots. and there is more trouble on the way for the new year s holiday. we begin with abc s linzie janis in framingham, massachusetts. reporter: freezing rain, northeast making roads treacherous. a
and his wealth. this is tuesday, december 29th. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now. good morning on this tuesday. i m reena ninan. i m kendis gibson. we re going to get started with the winter weather. winter just kicked in about a week ago. it has been brutal though. severe weather in so many parts of the country. snow, sleet, freezing rain making travel treacherous across the upper midwest and great lakes. many of those areas already have several inches of snow and are expecting more this morning. tens of thousands of people without power. with more, here s abc s clayton sandell. reporter:the midwest is in a blinding weather bullseye. in iowa, visibility is near zero. drivers in des moines are sling off icy slick pavement on interstate 80. those managing to stay on the road, and the plows, are fighting heavy snow. wichita looks like an icy junkyard. people off in the ditch. a couple just stuck on the side of the road. reporter: in oklahoma, the
we begin at this minute on today s eye opener. your world in 90 seconds. your in a scenario no one has been in. a massive winter storm batters the nation. tornadoes, ice storms, flash flood, claiming dozens of lives and there is more pane ahead. a wintry mess moving into the northeast. same areas in the 70s, a few days ago, getting the first winter storm of the season. the manhunt for the affluenza teen is over. demonstrators marched in cleveland, where the grand jury decided not to indict the officers involved in the shooting of the 12-year-old boy. a huge security breach. a drone flewed a janet to the motorcade before acts forced him out. donald trump is taking aim at someone new. that hurricane, obama went to new jersey, he was like a little child, christie. it s causing evacuations for thousands of residents. they got to do something about it. rock n roll icon lemmy kilmister zooid died. he started out as a road di for jimmy hendrix. stuck insi
first storm of the year. there s a lot of accidents. hopefully they ll be very minor. reporter: weather around the country has given them a preview from high winds and icy roads creating treacherous conditions in wisconsin to floods in missouri where the state s death toll climbed into the double digits. a snowdrift in new mexico trapped betty and jimmy anderson in their car for 20 hours until rescuers broke the windshield to free them. my wife, she was just shivering and shaking so i got into the passenger seat t cause the driver s seat was full of snow from us trying to dig out so we cuddled up together. reporter: air travelers also had nothing to do but wait. i ve been stranded now in the airport for 50 hours. reporter: almost 3,000 flights canceled across the united states yesterday according to flight tracking service, flight aware. the weather system spawned more tornadoes bringing terror to florida and arkansas. drive. get on the gas and go. that s it.