Storm Hits Rockies To New England

A winter storm that put much of the Midwest in the dark inched its way east Thursday, spreading a treacherous mix of freezing rain and snow from the Great Lakes to New England.

The forecast called for up to 6 inches of snow in some places by evening, considerably less than the amounts that fell Wednesday across the country's midsection. The same system had dumped up to 3 feet of snow in the mountains around Los Angeles earlier in the week.

The snow, sleet and freezing rain were part of a mass of cold air that dropped the temperature to a Jan. 5 record low of 39 below zero in Grand Forks, N.D. Embarrass, Minn., hit 43 below, the National Weather Service said.

Michigan recorded some of the heaviest snowfall, with towns up north digging out from almost a foot. In Detroit, icy roads were blamed for a school bus accident that sent eight students to a hospital to be checked for injuries.

In Illinois, some northern locations got up to 9 inches of snow. Up to 2 inches of rain fell in some southern counties, prompting flood warnings.

"It will likely be the biggest storm in over five years, with 8-10 inches here in the Loop, and this morning, it's just slushy, slushy," Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel, in Chicago, said on CBS News' The Early Show.

At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where more than 6 inches of snow fell, travelers coped with more than 600 canceled flights and three-hour delays. Twenty-one flights were canceled at the city's other airport, Midway, according to aviation officials.

Newly discharged Iraq veteran Brad Howard arrived at O'Hare from Tucson, expecting to simply change planes for Syracuse, reports CBS radio station WBBM's Bob Roberts. Howard had no cell phone, 85 cents in his pocket and all his luggage checked. But two flights were cancelled, and he spent longer than expected at O'Hare.

"It was nice and warm out there [in Tucson], but luckily for me, I knew it was going to cold up here so I brought a jacket," Howard said.

One person took pity and gave him use of a telephone and another passenger gave him $20. He apparently made it out on the third flight.

CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen sees no immediate relief in sight for the Midwest.

"It's going to stay very cold there, so there's not going to be any melting for that Midwest snow," Cullen said.

Weather-related traffic deaths included one each in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Indiana. Icy roads also may have been a factor in accidents that killed two in Michigan and at least nine in Oklahoma, including a Tulsa woman and her four children.

A search resumed Wednesday for two people who had been in a car that was found washed into a creek in Missouri, and one man was still missing after an Arizona flash flood that killed another man.

"From southern Connecticut southward all the way down the Eastern Seaboard, it will just be rain, but in New England, a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain," predicted Cullen.

He sees no relief for areas of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia that have experienced some flooding.

"The weather pattern is not suggesting that things are going to dry out," Cullen said. "Actually, a cold snap would be good to freeze some of it, but it's going to stay milder than normal, probably going to see another batch of rain moving into the same region Friday night into Saturday."

School closings were reported from New Mexico to New Jersey, and hundreds of travelers were stranded across the country.

"People have been sleeping on the floor. Nobody has had anything to eat. It's filthy in here," said Ken Wagner, who was stuck in Denver's Greyhound station for more than 15 hours when the company decided to keep its buses off the icy roads.

Thick ice coated roads, trees and utility poles across Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Indiana and the Texas Panhandle.

In Kansas, Westar Energy Inc. reported it had restored service to about a fifth of its nearly 100,000 customers who lost power because of the ice and snow.

Westar, the state's largest electric utility, was bringing in crews from Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Tennessee, but estimated it could take 10 days to bring all its customers back on line.