This Is Spring?

A powerful storm dumped more than a foot of snow in the Plains, closing schools and roads and forcing residents to man shovels Monday during the first day of spring.

Hundreds of schools were closed in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota, and at least five deaths were blamed on the storm. Spring officially began at 1:26 p.m. EST Monday.

"We saw more snow on the first day of spring yesterday across the Great Plains than what we saw in January," says CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen. "Anywhere from 12 to 18 inches is piled up in the foothills of the Rockies, across Nebraska, parts of Kansas, and we're not going to see a melt any time soon, because today, temperatures are only going to be in the 20s and low 30s."

Myron Williams, who raises livestock near Wall, was busy shoveling a foot of snow from gates and feedlots on his property. The rancher said the work was hard but the precipitation was welcome.

"We're glad to have the moisture," Williams said. "Nothing's free, so you've got to pay for everything."

Twenty-five inches of snow was reported in central Nebraska, parts of South Dakota had up to 18 inches, northeast Colorado had at least a foot, northwest Kansas had up to 10 inches and parts of the Oklahoma Panhandle got half a foot.

Several stretches of Interstate 80 were closed in Nebraska. "Lincoln is as far west as you can travel in Nebraska," reports Michelle Bandur of CBS affiliate KMTV in Omaha. As the snow fell, so did the temperatures, and the wet streets got icy.

Parts of Interstate 70 were closed in western Kansas, and in Colorado more than 150 miles of the highway were shut down.

In South Dakota, a stretch of about 200 miles of I-90 was reopened Monday. The highway had been closed from Rapid City to Chamberlain because of the heavy snow and tractor-trailers that had gotten stuck.

Truckers were sleeping in their cabs at the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop in Vermillion, S.D., unable to travel any further.

"Our lot is as full as it's ever been all winter long. A lot of them can't make it out on the highway or anything. It's pretty bad out there," Coffee Cup clerk Tanya Steed told CBS Radio News early Tuesday morning.

The storm postponed the final day of the South Dakota Legislature's 2006 session, and forced Nebraska's Legislature to cancel its Tuesday meeting.

Also Monday, at least two tornadoes touched down in rural Oklahoma as a wave of thunderstorms moved across the state.

Heavy rain soaked parts of the South over the weekend. Up to 8 inches of rain was reported in northern Texas, causing flooding around the Dallas area. Waters subsided Monday, and the storms may have eased chronic drought.

"It is definitely going to help with the drought, but it is not going to reverse it," said weather service meteorologist Stacie Hanes.

In Dallas, the body of a woman was recovered from a creek. Officials believe high water swept her car off a road Sunday night.

In Colorado, one person was killed Sunday in a traffic accident on a slush-covered road, the State Patrol said. And authorities said a woman reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease was found dead Monday after she wandered away from her home.

A five-year-old boy was ejected from an SUV that police was going too fast near the Denver airport, reports Jodi Brooks of CBS station KCNC.

"I could barely go 30 miles an hour myself, I'm all over the road, so the road is pretty bad both ways," said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Edward Gawkoski.

The boy is expected to survive.

Two motorists died on an icy highway in southwest Nebraska on Sunday, authorities said.

What the calendar says about the seasons means little, says Cullen.

"March historically is known for the windiest weather nationwide, because you have big swings in the temperatures," the CBS News meteorologist said. "Just last week, we had a lot of places were in the 80s, now they're in the 20s and in the teens. In between, you had volatile weather. You had the tornado outbreak. Now you have a severe storm bringing a lot of snow."

The storm was expected to bring significant rainfall across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. Parts of the central Appalachians could see some freezing rain, while light to moderate snow was expected from the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians.