Storm dumps piles of snow on Midwest as it moves East; 5 people dead in crashes

A bitter winter storm that dumped at least 10 inches of snow on St. Louis Saturday left five people dead in crashes on slick roadways in Kansas and Missouri as it spread eastward across the country, authorities said.

A woman and her 14-year-old stepdaughter died after their car slid into a semitrailer in Clinton, about 80 miles southeast of Kansas City, Missouri State Highway Patrol said Friday.

Another woman died when her car slid in northern Missouri and was hit by an oncoming SUV.

In Kansas, a 62-year old man died after his pickup truck skidded into a concrete barrier, the patrol said. And another crash involved two semitrailers, killing a 41-year old driver from Mexico.

The storm was spreading east into the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday, where Virginia and Washington, D.C., could see several inches of snow, the National Weather Service said.

St. Louis, which caught the brunt of the storm so far, recorded 10.1 inches, forcing the closure of sections of Interstates 44, 64 and 70 around the city. More than 11,000 customers were without power in Missouri as the heavy snow snapped branches and downed power lines.

Parts of central Missouri, around Harrisburg, reported up to 17 inches of snow.

Columbia, Missouri, was buried under 13 inches of snow, more than doubling a 109-year-old record for snowfall with more expected Saturday.

Layers of ice coat a bench at Lions Park as the sun peeks through clouds on Jan. 11, 2019, along the shores of Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, Michigan.
Layers of ice coat a bench at Lions Park as the sun peeks through clouds on Jan. 11, 2019, along the shores of Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, Michigan.

Bob Becker, district maintenance engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation, told would-be travelers Saturday morning: "If you can stay home, you probably should."

He said some motorists were stranded by the ice and snow for up to nine hours on Interstate 44 late Friday.

"I'm sorry they got stuck and we wish it wouldn't have happened," he said. "St. Louis unfortunately was the bullseye of this storm."

Snow covered roads and highways Saturday morning across much of southeastern Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Kansas, adding to travel headaches.

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Travelers along the Interstate 64 and 70 corridors of the Plains and Midwest can expect treacherous driving conditions.

The National Weather Service forecasts snow and ice overmuch of the East as a winter storm moves toward the mid-Atlantic.
The National Weather Service forecasts snow and ice overmuch of the East as a winter storm moves toward the mid-Atlantic.

The winter storm, which was expected to stretch 1,500 miles before it moves out to sea, was anchored in Denver, which saw up to 5 inches of snow in some areas. Antero Junction, Colorado, southwest of the city, recorded 14 inches. Parts of northern New Mexico were also hit by heavy snows, with 12 inches recorded near Talpa, New Mexico.

Significant icing is expected for the southern Appalachians and adjacent Piedmont region of North Carolina and southwest.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Storm dumps piles of snow on Midwest as it moves East; 5 people dead in crashes