A huge system is hurling blizzard-like conditions at the Great Plains as it pushes across the northern United States.
Forecasters now expect the vast system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, and also move into the central Appalachians and Northeast. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.
Residents in states from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet.
"This system is notable for the fact that it's going to impact areas all the way from California to eventually the Northeast," said meteorologist Frank Pereira with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
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The punishing storms barreled eastward Wednesday after killing a mother and son in the northwestern part of the state a day earlier.
In the Black Hills of the western part of the state of South Dakota, snow piled up to nearly 2 feet in some spots.
"They shovel for hours on end," said Vicki Weekly, who manages a historic hotel in the tourist and gambling city of Deadwood, where some visitors still ventured out to the casinos.
A roughly 320-mile span of Interstate 90 in South Dakota was closed Wednesday, and state officials warned drivers there to stay off most highways.
In the northern part of Minnesota, wet, heavy snow left tree limbs sagging and made driving treacherous Wednesday. Weather Service meteorologist Ketzel Levens in Duluth said 6 to 8 inches of snow had accumulated in some areas.
Images show piled-up snow covering roads and burying vehicles in Duluth, a city along Lake Superior in northern Minnesota.
More than 100,000 lost electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility outages.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
