Big Snowstorm Manhandles Midwest, Plains

The first big snowstorm of the season shut down hundreds of miles of highway Tuesday, cut power to tens of thousands of people across the Plains and the Midwest, and flattened homes with ferocious winds.

More than 10 inches of snow was dumped on Minnesota throughout the day and blizzard conditions in the Dakotas cut visibility to zero. Schools closed early or never opened.

A 50-year-old woman was missing and feared drowned after falling into the wind-whipped Wisconsin River about 20 miles north of Madison. Three other storm-related deaths were reported, one due to a traffic accident in Minnesota and two others of people killed by falling trees in Louisville, Ky., and Genoa, Wis.

Weather observers in Wisconsin recorded a “spectacular” 93-mph gust as severe winds blasted the state, tipping over trucks, ripping off roofs and cutting off electricity to thousands of customers.

Earlier, the storm had dumped up to 2 feet of snow in the Colorado Rockies, knocking out power to 10,000 people around Durango, Colo. Wisconsin Electric Power Co. reported 50,000 customers without electricity.

In South Dakota, deep snow forced the closing of all 250 miles of Interstate 29 from Nebraska to North Dakota. Also shut down was 400 miles of Interstate 90 from Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota to Jackson, Minn.

Power lines brought down by wind, snow and ice caused scattered blackouts from South Dakota and Nebraska into Illinois and Arkansas. Wind chills were well below zero.

On the upper Great Lakes, wind gusted to 95 mph on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, and the National Weather Service warned of waves 18 to 20 feet high on Lake Superior.