KANSAS CITY (AP) - Few signs of spring are being found in parts of the Midwest as a snowstorm tracks eastward mostly along Interstate 70, bringing heavy snow and high winds.
Two people killed in weather-related crashes were identified, dozens of Palm Sunday services were cancelled throughout Missouri, and about 100 flights were scrapped at Lambert Field in St. Louis. Winter storm warnings and advisories have been issued for Sunday and Monday as far east as Pennsylvania.
The storm dumped 7 to 9 inches of snow from eastern Kansas into central Missouri before tapering off Sunday morning, said Dan Hawblitzel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in suburban Kansas City.
In Columbia, TV station KOMU was briefly evacuated Sunday morning because of high winds and a heavy buildup of snow on the broadcast tower next to the building. And Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced he was cancelling a couple events planned for today because of the weather.
By early Sunday evening, St. Louis had about a foot and northern suburbs from 12 to 14 inches, with another 1 to 2 inches expected.
"The snow intensity is pretty heavy, so the visibility is low," said Todd Waelterman, director of the City of St. Louis Streets Department. "So we've asked people to stay off the road and let our plows do their job. And people seem to be heeding that warning."
Authorities on Sunday also released the names of two people killed in separate crashes. In northeast Kansas, Anthony J. Hinthorne, 40, of Topeka, was killed Saturday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash and rollover on the Kansas Turnpike as snow was falling in Shawnee County, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. Later that night, Joshua J. French, 24, of Naperville, Ill., was killed when he lost control of his vehicle on a wet stretch of Interstate 35 in Clay County, Mo.