Heavy snow swings across path from N.M. to Ohio

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A foot or more of snow was possible in parts of Indiana and Ohio as a storm spanning the nation's midsection arrived in the region Wednesday, and motorists already were sliding off roads.

Snow was falling from New Mexico, where some schools were closed, to the lower Great Lakes.

The snow marked the leading edge of bitterly cold air flowing southward. Highs only in the teens were forecast Wednesday in the northern Texas Panhandle, where wind chills today could be as low as 15 below zero, the National Weather Service said.

At the northern extreme of the cold air mass, International Falls, Minn., the temperature fell from 8 below zero at midnight to 20 below by midmorning, the weather service said.

Eight inches of snow had fallen by late morning in the hilly terrain of southwestern Indiana, where Evansville recorded only 7 inches all of last winter, and police reported numerous vehicles sliding off slippery roads.

"It's strictly the result of people going too fast," said state police 1st Sgt. Michael Bennett in Jasper.

In central Indiana, snow was more than 7 inches deep at Columbus and county government offices were closed because roads were hazardous.

Through today, snowfall totals could reach a foot in parts of southern Indiana, meteorologists said.

But for western Ohio, forecasts were upgraded because cold air was moving in faster than expected and rain was turning to snow more quickly. "Some locations will make a hard run at 20 inches," meteorologist Mike Ryan said in Wilmington.

The precipitation was moving toward the east, and rain and snow were possible today from the Gulf of Mexico into New England.

Many southern Indiana residents had started stocking up on shovels, work gloves, ice scrapers, road salt and canned goods.

"While they're here, they buy whatever else just in case," said Jason Harrington, grocery manager at Buehler's Buy-Low in downtown Evansville.

Motorists in Kentucky were warned to expect about 4 inches of snow through Thursday, on top of a layer of ice produced by freezing rain.

"Don't drive unless you absolutely have to," said Kentucky State Police Sgt. Phil Crumpton.

To the west, up to 6 inches of snow was possible in parts of northern Texas, and a weather alert was issued for airlines at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Blowing snow and icy bridges caused several accidents in Oklahoma, where a tractor-trailer hauling several hundred goats overturned in Lawton. Some goats were killed and others ran free, the Highway Patrol reported.

Up to 4 inches of snow early Wednesday in New Mexico closed schools in Roswell and Raton, and U.S. 70 was shut down between Roswell and Ruidoso Downs.

One traffic death was blamed on icy pavement in New Mexico.