Powerful spring snow storm roars across US midsection
MILWAUKEE, April 14 (Reuters) - A powerful spring storm swept across the U.S. Midwest and Plains on Saturday, bringing heavy snow and high winds that halted travel and disrupted power supplies following tornadoes that injured four people in the south of the country. South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas were bearing the brunt of the storm with blizzard-like conditions, heavy snow falls and gusts of 50 miles (80 km) per hour expected through Sunday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
"Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions, making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel," it said.
Ice and snow covered roadways across the region, forcing several interstate highways to remain closed early on Saturday.
The storm was expected to dump almost a foot of snow in northern Wisconsin and Michigan and cause wind gusts of 65 miles per hour (105 km) and unseasonably cold temperatures in Texas, the NWS said.
It could break April snowfall records in parts of the northern Midwest, Weather.com said.
The system was also forecast to create a mix of snow and ice that is likely to topple power lines and trees, causing power outages in the upper Midwest.
On Friday, the system produced 10 reports of tornadoes in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, the weather service said. Four people were injured and 160 buildings damaged in a possible tornado in northwest Arkansas, local media reported.
About 115,000 customers in the Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas while an additional 12,000 were without power in Michigan early on Saturday, the website Poweroutage.us reported. (Editing by Helen Popper)
