Storm causes fender-benders in Kansas, Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Numerous fender-benders and slide-offs were reported Friday after a winter storm dumped several inches of snow across parts of Kansas and Missouri.

Snow began falling across western Kansas midday Thursday and spread eastward across the state and into Missouri.

The center of the storm left Missouri by Friday morning, leaving only lingering lighter snow and flurries on the back edge of the storm, said Maren Stoflet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Kansas City suburb of Pleasant Hill.

In Kansas, snowfall totals generally ranged from 3 to 6 inches in the far western part of the state to 2 to 5 inches in the central and eastern sections.

Missouri received lighter accumulations, ranging from up to 31/2 inches in northwest and central parts of the state to up to 2 inches in the east.

Highway departments on Friday morning reported that roads across much of Kansas were partly to completely snowpacked and icy, while roads across much of the northern half of Missouri were covered or partly covered with snow.

Kansas City-area police reported dozens of accidents, mostly minor, during the morning rush.

Troopers in Kansas and Missouri also worked numerous accidents. Most in Kansas involved cars skidding off the road.

Generally calm weather was predicted in Kansas and Missouri for the next five days.