By
The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. - The Plains states dug out yesterday from as much as 18 inches of snow dumped by a huge storm that closed highways and schools, and grounded airline flights.
Seasoned truckers pulled over to wait for conditions to improve.
"You can't see marker lines, you don't know where the road is. It's not a good idea to be out there," said Perry Blaoun, who parked his rig overnight at Sioux Falls, S.D.
At least three deaths were blamed on the storm as it swirled from the Southwest and Rockies across the Plains. One man died Monday in Nebraska when he slipped on ice and hit his head, a traffic death in Minnesota was blamed on heavy fog and a weekend traffic death in Texas was blamed on the storm.
By yesterday, the bulk of the storm had plowed eastward, spreading rain across the Great Lakes and along the East Coast.
In its wake, 18 inches of new snow sat on the ground at Mitchell and Huron, S.D., and a foot had fallen at Loup City, Neb. Mitchell declared a snow emergency, banning all non-emergency vehicles from the streets.
South Dakota authorities closed about 130 miles of Interstate 90 from Sioux Falls to Chamberlain yesterday.
"The wind is making visibility bad, and blowing snow and drifting," said South Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Warren Anderson.
During the weekend, the storm piled 14 inches of snow on the Oklahoma Panhandle. The National Weather Service estimated that 30 to 35 inches fell in some mountain canyons in north-central New Mexico with more than 40 inches in two days at Colorado's Wolf Creek Pass.
About 125 Nebraska schools canceled classes yesterday or opened late because of the heavy snow accumulation and wind gusting up to 35 mph. Gusts to 52 mph whistled through Rapid City, S.D.
"Given the amount of snow that fell and the amount of winds we'll have, it'd be a real bad day to send kids to school," said Daniel Nietfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist
Schools also closed early Monday in parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, and the Iowa Legislature canceled Monday's sessions.
A Northwest Airlines spokesman said the airline canceled about 240 flights Monday, most of them traveling to and from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Blizzard and winter storm warnings remained in effect yesterday in parts of South Dakota, and in Minnesota forecaster Chris Scott said freezing rain in some areas would change to a mixture of snow and ice.
"With the snow on top of the ice, it could be a real mess," he said. "We're looking at pretty significant ice accumulations. It could be a dangerous situation."
The storm was caused by a strong mass of warm air from the Gulf of Mexico that collided with a shallow layer of cold air, weather service forecaster Bill Harrison said.
"It's a very unusual amount of moisture feeding this far north for January," he said.
Snowdrifts stood up to 7 feet high in parts of New Mexico, and Interstate 25 was closed early yesterday by blowing snow and ice between Las Vegas and Raton, state officials said.
