Updated:
2/1/2011 2:00:00 PM
A huge winter storm that is pounding the middle of the country with snow and ice Tuesday has left roads dangerous in many states and its moving toward the Northeast, news services reported.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning Tuesday covering parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
Parts of the Midwest could get up to 2 feet of snow and snow drifts could be 5 to 10 feet high, MSNBC reported.
The system could affect up to 100 million Americans, and Chicago was bracing for a direct hit, where the storm could dump 20 inches of snow, MSNBC said.
The storm will affect an area more than 2,000 miles wide, from Texas and eventually reaching the Northeast, the Weather Channel reported on its website.
Sleet, frozen rain and snow covered much of North Texas early Tuesday and roads there remained icy later in the morning, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Big rigs were stuck on highways in Dallas, site of this weekend’s Super Bowl, and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was temporarily closed Tuesday morning, with American Airlines canceling more than 1,400 flights system-wide, NBC’s Dallas affiliate reported on its website.
By late morning the storm had caused visibility problems on many of Oklahoma’s highways, news station KOTV reported.
The state warned motorists to avoid driving if possible, and the Will Rogers Turnpike (Interstate 44) was closed from Tulsa to the Missouri state line, as was a portion of the Turner Turnpike between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the Tulsa World newspaper reported.
St. Louis station KMOV reported that there were numerous accidents on I-70 and the Missouri Department of Transportation reported dozens of roadways covered or partially covered in snow, with poor visibility.
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