Severe winter storm heads toward northeast

WKYT FirstAlert Weather

Severe winter storm heads toward northeast

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - People living in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes area likely will get the same winter storm that pounded states from Kansas to Illinois yesterday, forcing schools and airports to close and interrupting legislative sessions in some states.

The storm that brought powdery, knee-deep show to the heartland yesterday has been working its way northeast in the last several hours.

Wind gusts of 30 mph are expected to churn-up snow that fell overnight in southern Wisconsin, where forecasters have warned residents in the Milwaukee area of slick roads and reduced visibility. The same was expected in northeast Iowa, where residents could wake up to as much as 7 inches of new snow, while nearly 200 snowplows were deployed overnight in Chicago.

At a Travel Centers of America truck stop in the central Illinois city of Effingham, all of the 137 parking spaces were filled by truckers unwilling to drive through the storm overnight.

The storm system swirled to the north and east late Thursday, its snow, sleet and freezing rain prompting winter storm across the region - and leaving some impressive snow accumulations.

American Red Cross, local media join forces for tornado relief