Same snowy story: Blizzard hits Midwest, Plains
POSTED: 2:46 a.m. EST, March 2, 2007
Story Highlights• Schools closed in several states, flights canceled
• Omaha, Nebraska got a foot of snow
• 20 inches of snow could fall in Wisconsin through Friday
• 400 flights canceled at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
Adjust font size:
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Heavy, wet snow and blizzard conditions hit the Plains and Midwest on Thursday, shutting down hundreds of miles of interstate.
Schools closed in several states, and hundreds of flights were canceled.
Two people were killed when their car overturned on a slick road in North Dakota, and one person died after shoveling snow in Nebraska.
The storm moved into Iowa with rain and sleet but changed to snow around dawn.
The western part of the state was hit with a blizzard that dropped visibility to a quarter-mile or less for at least three hours.
By midday, as much as a foot of snow covered the town of Atlantic.
A blizzard also hit eastern Nebraska, with a foot of snow in the Omaha area and up to 15 inches of snow expected in some areas before it dies off Friday.
Interstate 80 was closed for nearly 200 miles from York, Nebraska, to Des Moines; I-35 was shut down for 115 miles from Ames, Iowa, to Albert Lea, Minnesota; and I-90 was closed from Albert Lea to the South Dakota line, about 150 miles to the west.
Pat Sinnott, who owns the Pump 'N Munch Too convenience store in Council Bluffs near the Nebraska line, said motorists had been pulling off I-80 and using her phone to call their bosses and say they wouldn't be coming in.
With up to 18 inches of snow expected in parts of Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver planned to issue a disaster declaration, clearing the way for state aid, and authorities warned people to stay off the roads.
"There's a real chance for people to get themselves stranded in some real treacherous conditions," said Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
In North Dakota, a vehicle went out of control on the slick roads Wednesday, hit a ditch and rolled over, killing a couple on their way home from Texas.
The storm was expected to track northeast to La Crosse, Wisconsin, later Thursday, with heaviest snowfall expected along a line north and west of the storm, forecasters said.
In suburban Milwaukee, part of a supermarket roof collapsed after a morning snowfall. Joe Foltz, who works at the Pick n' Save supermarket, said he heard a crackling shortly before the collapse.
"We thought maybe milk crates crashed on the floor," Foltz said. "About 10 minutes later, it started going down. ... So I rushed everybody out of the emergency exit door and, thank God, we got everybody out."
In Superior, Wisconsin, Angela Jones decided to stay home with her two children after their day care center closed and a blizzard warning was posted.
"It is snowing and blowing. The wind is blowing really hard," said Jones, 31. "The flag out there is whipping around. I am glad I didn't have to go out in this."
As much as 20 inches of snow could fall in her area of northwestern Wisconsin through Friday morning, while closer to 8 inches of snow mixed with sleet was expected across the east-central part of the state, the National Weather Service said.
The storm was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to Louisiana. Tornadoes swept through southern Missouri Thursday morning, killing a 7-year-old girl, authorities said.
More than 140 school districts canceled classes Thursday in Minnesota even before the heavy snow arrived.
By Friday, snowfall totals were expected to be a foot or more in southern and central Minnesota. In northeastern Minnesota, the totals could hit two feet. The weather service warned of blowing snow and possible blizzard conditions in the countryside.
"We're going to get pummeled," National Weather Service meteorologist Byron Paulson said.
Flights were canceled around the region. At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, airport officials were preparing for serious disruptions after airlines nixed about 400 flights, a number that was expected to grow.
"Certainly there is a likelihood that there will be people who will spend the night in the terminal," said airport spokesman Patrick Hogan.
The snowfall follows a storm last weekend that dropped up to 2 feet of snow across Minnesota, leaving plow crews wondering where to put the new snow.
