Storms across the nation’s midsection delivered freezing cold and as much as 10 inches of snow Thursday, bedeviling drivers and closing schools from Texas to Indiana.
At least 10 people were killed in wrecks in Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky over two days. In Texas, a mother and son died in a fire sparked by an improperly installed wood stove.
The eastbound storm system was expected to leave 6 inches of snow in central Illinois and up to 5 inches in Chicago, where by late afternoon 30 flights had been canceled at O’Hare International and Midway.
In Indiana, dozens of schools dismissed students early, and community groups and churches canceled events as many cities reported up to 6 inches of snow by evening.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra promised that Thursday night’s “Yuletide Celebration” would go on, but it discounted tickets to attract stranded commuters.
The heaviest snow – up to 10 inches – fell along the Interstate 35 corridor into Kansas City, said Greg Koch, a National Weather Service forecaster. Temperatures in the city fell into the single digits. The St. Louis region received 2 to 4 inches of snow.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Plunkett said all three passengers in a sport utility vehicle were killed Thursday when it crossed a median on a snow-covered interstate near Charleston and struck a tractor-trailer head-on.
Also in southeast Missouri, a Greyhound bus struck the rear of a state truck that was plowing a two-lane highway near Greenville. Plunkett said seven or eight passengers were hurt, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.
Numerous vehicles slipped off roads or were involved in fender benders, troopers said. On a snow-packed interstate near Edgerton, Kan., a 31-year-old woman’s pickup slid across the median Wednesday and collided with another vehicle, killing her and her 4-year-old daughter.
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