Snow will start falling in New York overnight and it will arrive in Chicago in a few hours, according to weather service forecasts. At least 280 flights at O’Hare International Airport have been canceled proactively, according to FlightAware, a Houston-based airline tracking company.

“During the heaviest portion of the storm snowfall, rates of an inch per hour are possible,” Kevin Burke, a weather service meteorologist in Romeoville, Illinois, said in a multimedia briefing. “This will make both air travel and ground travel severely impaired across the area this afternoon and into the evening.”

Winter weather advisories and storm warnings and watches stretch from eastern South Dakota to Long Island, according to the weather service. A weak storm passed through the eastern U.S. earlier today leaving a snow coating in its wake in some areas.

An ice storm that struck the Pacific Northwest yesterday led to the cancellation of at least 192 outbound flights from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to FlightAware.

Heavy snow across northern Oregon, Washington and Montana is causing 24- to 36-hour delays on BNSF Railway Co. freight trains, according to a service advisory.

Heavy Snow

An area of heavy snow as much as 60 miles (97 kilometers) wide will pass through Chicago later today. That area will drop as much as 8 inches of snow, so the track it takes is important, Burke said.

“The temperatures are well below freezing so it won’t take any time for snow to accumulate on roads and make them quite slick,” he said.

As of 7 a.m. Chicago time, the temperature was 8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-13 Celsius), according to the weather service.

Snow will start in New York late tonight, said Tim Morrin, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.

“We’re anticipating enough snow to prompt a winter weather advisory for New York City,” Morrin said by telephone. “We are expecting a swath of snow to develop after midnight and continue through midday.”

The storm is also expected to have an impact elsewhere along the East Coast.

Boston is forecast to receive 2 to 4 inches of snow tomorrow, according to the weather service. Philadelphia may receive 1 to 3 inches by tomorrow, Washington and Baltimore may receive an inch of ice, and Cleveland may get 3 to 5 inches of snow.

In New York, Morrin said temperatures will rise into the 40s later this weekend, which may melt most of the snow off roads.

Craig and Lucy Johnson, from Lichfield, were in the city as they had planned to be married at the top of the Rockefeller Center.

The couple, who fell in love with the city ten years ago, vowed to return and decided to have their wedding there.

However, they were identified as the 50 millionth in Times Square and received a “Golden Ticket” from the mayor.

Five and half years ago, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg set a goal to reach 50 million visitors by 2015, but in 2008 changed it to be the end of 2012. This meant that they were a year ahead of schedule.

Michel Hazanavicius won best director for “The Artist,” a black-and-white film about Hollywood’s transition from silent films to talkies in the late 1920s and the toll it takes on one actor’s life. In the romantic drama, a couple played by Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo find themselves on opposite sides of a career arc — his descending as her star begins to shine.

The film began to generate buzz at festivals earlier this year and received strong reviews. With Tuesday’s important, early win from the New York film critics, “The Artist” positions itself as a key competitor in the race for this year’s Academy Awards, the film world’s highest honors which are handed out in February.

Streep won the New York critics’ best actress award for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” while Pitt was cited for his performances in two films, sports drama “Moneyball” and drama “The Tree of Life.”

It was Streep’s fourth best actress win from the critics’ group and Pitt’s first.

Jessica Chastain was named best supporting actress for her performances in three films, “The Tree of Life,” “The Help” and “Take Shelter.”

Veteran actor Albert Brooks won best supporting actor for his turn as a small-time mobster in thriller, “Drive.”

The best screenplay award went to “Moneyball”‘s Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin.

“It’s a nice lineup with some surprises,” the group’s chairman, critic John Anderson, said of the winners.

He noted that while most categories required many ballots, there was also no rancor. He called the group “hardly a unified mass,” but told Reuters the choice of “The Artist” made sense.

“It’s a film about film, so it would appeal to the critical sensibility. It’s a movie that celebrates movies.”

“But it’s also well done,” Anderson added. “And it’s upbeat, joyful, and just hard to resist.”

The group shunned some presumed Oscar contenders such as “The Descendants” and “Beginners,” though Anderson noted the former film had some strong support.

The New York based film critics organization was founded in 1935 and comprises members from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines and some online general-interest publications.

Awards from critics groups and other industry panels often influence which films, performers and movie makers will compete for Oscars, which are given out by the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Washington Post-ABC News national survey found that voters are divided 50-46 on whether the new law is a positive or negative development.

Among those under 30, supporters outnumber those who view the law unfavorably by a 2-1 margin. But among seniors, 6 in 10 say the law is bad news.

When broken down along religious lines, Friday’s poll presents a more complicated picture of Americans’ feelings on same-sex marriage.

Within the white Protestant community there exists a strong divide between the evangelical and non-evangelical branches of the religion. While evangelicals view the law new negatively by a 75-21 margin, non-evangelicals support the measure by a 63-24 margin.

Catholics are broadly supportive of the measure, with nearly 60 percent saying they view the new law favorably, although support drops off among those who attend church less frequently.

Information about Jews’ attitudes wasn’t included in the poll.

According to Friday’s poll, there is also a strong partisan divide regarding the measure. Nearly three quarters of liberal Democrats view the new law positively, while conservative Republicans see gay marriage in New York negatively by a 71-26 margin.

Moderates and independents back the law by a 54-41 margin.

Within the Republican party, opinions on the new law are split between those who identify with the Tea Party and more moderate Republicans. While 7 in 10 Tea Partiers say they oppose New York’s gay marriage law, less than half of non-Tea Party Republicans, 45 percent, say they view it in a negative light.

Support for same-sex marriage has generally been growing over the past decade. According to the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage in 2001. A decade later, Pew reported that Americans were closely split on the issue, 46-45 percent, between those who oppose and support.

The approval of same-sex marriage in New York was seen by gay rights activists as a historic victory and made the state the sixth and largest to allow gays and lesbians to marry.

New York is the sixth state (plus Washington) to offer marriage equality for same-sex couples. To me, after two decades of consulting with business leaders, this moment truly feels personal. It not only arrives packed with emotion, it is a real game-changer for the American work force.

New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and city leaders must be cheering the economic shot in the arm as hotels, restaurants, caterers, florists and legions of vendors welcome the wedding and honeymoon brigades. Some estimate nearly $400 million in revenues for the state over the next three years.

These rewards are also the result of changing tides among American corporations and employers over recent decades. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s same-sex marriage legislation was endorsed not only by major corporations like Xerox and Google but by scores of smaller business owners across the state.

New York City’s Fashion’s Night Out is getting one night longer with a large runway show for the public ahead of the main event.

Organizers expect 1,500 guests for the Sept. 7 show at Lincoln Center before the evening of parties at dozens of stores on Sept. 10. More than 200 top models will walk the runway in Fall 2010 trends picked by Vogue editors in what the hosts said Thursday will be the city’s largest public fashion show.

Fashion’s Night Out is a collaboration between American Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the city of New York and NYC & Company, its marketing arm. The runway show will be produced by American Vogue and SPEC Entertainment.

The study by Dr. David Prezant, with the Office of Medical Affairs at the New York City Fire Department, is the first to chronicle how the long-term health of firefighters and emergency medical service (EMS) workers has been impacted since the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.