A snow plow clears snow from Old Las Vegas Highway as snowy weather hits the area in Santa Fe, N.M., Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.(Photo: Clyde Mueller, AP)
A powerful blizzard hit the central Plains on Tuesday, closing major roads and schools, halting flights at several airports and knocking out power to thousands of residents.
On the warmer side of the system, areas from southern Illinois and Indiana to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were dealing with severe weather.
Several tornadoes were reported in Mississippi, including one near Newton, Miss., where there were reports of damage to homes, and another near Collinsville, where a church was heavily damaged and mobile homes were flipped over.
Cities such as Nashville and Birmingham, Ala., were at greatest risk for severe weather through the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>evening, the Climate Prediction Center said.
A tornado watch remained in effect Tuesday afternoon for portions of the mid-Mississippi Valley. That means conditions are ripe for twisters to form.
To the north, on the storm's snowy side, parts of five states from north-central Kansas to southwest Minnesota remained<span style="color: Red;">*</span>under blizzard warnings as of late afternoon, the Weather Channel said.
Besides the heavy snow, wind gusts exceeding 40 mph caused<span style="color: Red;">*</span>near-zero visibility and significant drifting of snow, leading to whiteout conditions.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Portions of Interstates 70, 80 and 76 closed in Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa.
Denver International Airport's Facebook page reported 125 flight cancellations Tuesday morning.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>About a third of the schedule was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>grounded at Nebraska's Omaha airport.
"The weather certainly doesn't look pleasant this morning," said National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Cogil, when asked how the storm may affect those clamoring to depart Des Moines the day after Iowa's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>caucuses.
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In Nebraska, more than 10,000 Omaha Public Power District customers lost power, the utility reported. Nearly 7,000 Alliant Energy customers were without power in eastern Iowa.
By mid-afternoon, several locations in Nebraska had picked up more than a foot of snow.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>About 6 to 12 inches was expected<span style="color: Red;">*</span>across the Upper Midwest through Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said.
The highest snow total from the storm so far was 41 inches near Coal Bank Pass,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Colo., the weather service said. The highest wind gust so far was a 95-mph one in San Augustin Pass, N.M.
The Weather Channel has named the storm Winter Storm Kayla.
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