美國遭受大規模冬季風暴襲擊

Ice, snow and hail are blanketing the midwestern United States, as part of a massive winter storm expected to be one of the biggest in recent years.

The National Weather Service issued warnings urging people to stay inside, calling travel "impossible" and conditions "life threatening."

The cities of Milwaukee, St. Louis and Chicago are bracing for the biggest impact, with more than 46 centimeters of snow and wind gusts of up to 64 kilometers per hour expected over the next day.

Forecasters have issued blizzard, winter storm and freezing rain warnings for more than half the country from the southwestern state of Texas through the midwestern state of Illinois and into the northeastern state of Maine.

Airlines are already delaying and canceling flights in the region, and allowing customers to change their itinerary without the usual fee.

The weather conditions even forced President Barack Obama to reschedule a trip planned for Wednesday to a university in Pennsylvania. He instead travels on Thursday.

冰、雪和冰雹席捲美國中西部。預計這次大規模的冬季風暴是最近幾年來最大的一次。

美國國家氣象局發佈警告，敦促人們呆在室內，說旅行是“不可能的”, 而且天氣狀況會“危及生命”。

米爾沃基、聖路易斯和芝加哥正在爲這場風暴帶來的最大影響做準備。預計明天的降雪量將超過46釐米和大風達到時速64公里。

氣象人員對從西南部的德克薩斯到中西部的伊利諾伊再到東北部的緬因州美國一半以上的地區發佈了暴風雪、冬季風暴以及凍雨的警告。

航空公司推遲或取消了這些地區的航班，並且允許顧客不需繳通常收取的手續費而改變他們的行程。

天氣狀況甚至迫使奧巴馬總統改變星期三前往賓夕法尼亞州一所大學的旅行計劃。他的行程改在星期四。