Snow blankets parts of Midwest, South

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A foot of snow buried parts of the Ohio Valley early Saturday, virtually shutting down some road and air travel.

As much as 10 inches of snow fell overnight in Ohio, and 13 inches fell on central Kentucky's Owen County, the National Weather Service said. Louisville, Ky., had 11 inches to shovel and plow.

Blizzard warnings remained in effect in Ohio. Wind up to 35 mph whipped the snow and cut visibility to less than a quarter mile in places, the weather service said.

"We're getting a lot of drifting and poor visibility out here," said State Highway Patrol Sgt. Rod Moser in Circleville, Ohio. Two semitrailers jackknifed on Interstate 71, about 20 miles south of Columbus, he said.

It was a continuation of the storm that on Friday piled up snow a foot deep in Arkansas and blacked out thousands of homes and businesses from that state to the Great Lakes.

Flights canceled
One Ohio traffic death was blamed on the weather Friday, and two people were killed as tornadoes struck several Florida communities.

Many flights into and out of Ohio were delayed or canceled. Just after midnight, a plane skidded off the pavement at Port Columbus International Airport but no one was injured. Dozens of flights were canceled Friday in Cleveland and Columbus.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport remained open as 25 plows worked around the clock to keep runways clear, airport spokesman Todd Payne said. The airport has about 250 daily flights on the weekends.

Continental Airlines, which uses Cleveland as a hub, canceled about two-thirds of its flights Saturday, Payne said. "I would imagine, based on Continental's figures, we'll probably cancel about 50 flights today," he said.

Major roadways were slushy but passable around Louisville, with no major accidents reported.

Snow moving northeast
Most activities were canceled in Ohio and officials urged people to stay off streets and highways Saturday as motorists faced whiteout conditions in some places.

In the South, 5 to 7 inches of snow blanketed areas from Cleveland, Miss., north to Memphis, Tenn., the weather service said. The Mississippi Highway Patrol said ice was reported on roads and bridges in north Mississippi as temperatures climbed out of the 20s.

The snow was moving toward the northeast, and police in Middlebury, Vt., postponed a weekend ground search for a missing Middlebury College student because of the approaching storm. The 19-year-old student has been missing for more than a month.

Along the central East Coast, thunderstorms formed Saturday morning over Virginia and North Carolina, and the weather service posted a tornado watch for coastal sections.