Midwest hit by its first major snowstorm of the season

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:23:00 +0000

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The first major snowstorm of the season began its slow eastward march across the Midwest Thursday, creating treacherous, sometimes deadly driving conditions and threatening to disrupt some of the nation's busiest airports ahead of the holiday weekend.

Heavy snow and strong winds combined for blizzard conditions in some areas from Kansas to Wisconsin - and guaranteed a white Christmas in some places - after the storm blanketed the Rocky Mountains earlier in the week.

Iowa and Nebraska took a heavy hit from the storm, with nearly a foot of snow in Des Moines and 8.6 inches in Omaha, Neb.

Thomas Shubert, a clerk at a store in Gretna near Omaha, said his brother drove him to work in his 4-by-4 truck but that some of his neighbors weren't so fortunate.

"I saw some people in my neighborhood trying to get out. They made it a few feet, and that was about it," Shubert said Thursday. "I haven't seen many cars on the road. There are a few brave souls out, but mostly trucks and plows."

By sunrise in Des Moines, the snow was starting to taper off, but that would not be the end of it, warned Kevin Skow, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the city.

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Midwest hit by its first major snowstorm of the season