Snowstorm blankets Midwest, heads east

PITTSBURGH – As much as a foot of snow fell from the Plains across the Midwest on Saturday, snarling road and air travel, as the second big winter storm in a week barreled through on its way to New England.

Tens of thousands of people still lacked electricity after the first storm slammed Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri earlier in the week. That storm was blamed for at least 38 deaths, mostly in traffic accidents.

Winter storm warnings and watches extended Saturday from Missouri across parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, the National Weather Service said. As much as 15 inches of snow was forecast in parts of southern Michigan.

More than 200 flights were canceled because of the weather Saturday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Flakes were also falling by late Saturday in traditionally snow-prone Buffalo, N.Y. Accumulations of a foot or more were predicted for much of New York state.

Residents across New England packed stores to stock up before getting slammed. The winter weather earlier in the week caught many people unawares, stranding commuters and school buses as it made some of the nation’s busiest highways impassable.