Heavy Snowfall Closes Schools, Disrupts Traffic in Plains States

Heavy snow fell over parts of the southern Plains and Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, closing schools and blocking traffic, and lighter snow extended through the Ohio Valley into New England.

A foot of snow fell in northwestern Arkansas and the National Weather Service warned that up to 14 inches was possible by this morning.

At Mountain Home, Ark., 6-year-old Jonathan Maroon built his first snowman with two friends Tuesday. “It tastes like ice cream,” he said.

More than two dozen Arkansas school districts closed as a precaution and jackknifing tractor-trailer rigs temporarily closed U.S. 71 south of Fayetteville.

The storm had dropped up to a foot of snow on higher elevations of Colorado on Monday, setting off avalanches that killed a snowboarder and closed two mountain passes.

Weather advisories ranged from a heavy snow warning posted for much of southwestern Texas to winter storm warnings in Ohio and Pennsylvania and storm watches in effect in New England, where 6 inches of snow was possible overnight in New Hampshire and Maine. Glare ice in Connecticut set off a series of spinouts and fender-benders involving about 20 vehicles on Interstate 84.

In St. Louis, Trans World Airlines canceled more than 160 flights.