Snowstorm snarls travel, cancels Midwest events

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Travelers were stranded Saturday along highways in parts of Iowa and Illinois as plows struggled to keep up with a storm that spread blowing, heavy snow from the Plains all the way to Maryland.

Slippery pavement and blowing snow made driving a struggle from eastern Nebraska through Ohio. The flying snow caused near whiteout conditions in parts of Illinois.

"There are cars in the ditch, but there's too many to count," said Lt. Rob Hansen of the Iowa State Patrol.

"We're not pulling anything out because it's not safe for the tow trucks to be out there," Hansen said. "We're trying to get to the folks in their vehicles and give them a ride to someplace warm and dry."

Some motorists also were stuck in their cars after sliding into ditches in central Illinois, where up to 12 inches of snow was possible around Peoria, police said.

The heaviest snow by midday Saturday was in eastern Nebraska and Iowa, where Omaha and Des Moines had 9 inches. Strong wind piled the snow into drifts. Up to 7 inches fell overnight in central Ohio, that region's largest snowfall so far this winter.

But the heaviest potential snowfall -- 18 to 30 inches by late today -- was likely in the central Appalachians around Elkins, W.Va., the National Weather Service said. The Elkins Fire Department put tire chains on all its trucks, spokesman Mike Hart said.

"This is by far, by far the biggest of the season and potentially very much more hazardous," said John Victory, a weather service meteorologist in Charleston, W.Va.

By afternoon Saturday, the snow had spread into Maryland, where Baltimore already had seen 22.9 inches of snow since Dec. 1, nearly twice its normal 12.3 inches.

"These storms are all sort of blurring together," said Lora Rakowski, a Maryland Highway Administration spokeswoman.

The storm was fueled by abundant moisture flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico, said Cathy Zapotocny, a weather service forecaster in Nebraska.

"This had a lot more water than any storm we've seen for some time," she said. "It had a lot more potential."

Heavy rain fell on hilly southern West Virginia and a flood watch was posted for an eight-county area.

Parts of Tennessee had collected more than 6 inches of rain since Friday morning, causing scattered flooding. No property damage or injuries were reported.

"The bad news is that it's far from over," said Mike Murphy of the weather service in Nashville.

Sports events were canceled across the snow belt, and an anti-war demonstration scheduled at the federal courthouse in Omaha was postponed until Monday.

The Des Moines International Airport was open, but several flights were delayed or canceled, spokesman Michael Audino said. One of the city's shopping malls closed for the day.

Some flights were delayed or canceled at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, BWI spokeswoman Maria Root said.

At West Lafayette, Ind., the Purdue University Airport was closed because crews could not keep the regional airport's runways clear. Wind blowing at up to 25 mph made it difficult to tell how much snow was falling, said Justin McCaw of Lafayette Aviation.