Hundreds of flights cancelled as snowstorm hits US Midwest

A plough removes snow at an entrance of the Kansas Turnpike near Lawrence, Kansas. Photo / AP

A winter storm blanketed much of the central US Midwest with snow at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.

It brought blizzard-like conditions that grounded hundreds of flights and forced the closure of major highways on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

"It's going to be messy," said Todd Kluber, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service who is based in suburban Chicago.

With much of the central plains and Great Lakes region under blizzard or winter storms warnings, roughly 600 flights headed to or from the US had been cancelled, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Most were supposed to be routed through Chicago or Kansas City — areas forecast to be hit hard by the storm.

Strong winds and snow created blizzard conditions across much of Nebraska and parts of Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. The National Weather Service was warning those conditions would make travel difficult in places.

The blizzard warning was extended to parts of the eastern Illinois near Chicago, where snow is forecast to fall at a rate of about 5cm per hour.

Other parts of central plains and Great Lakes region were under a winter storm warning, that could see 30cm or more of snow dumped in some places by the end of the day.

In eastern Nebraska, part of Interstate 80 between Lincoln and Omaha was closed because of multiple accidents after snow blanketed that area. That included semitrailer trucks jack-knifed across the highway. It was re-opened.

In Kansas, Governor Jeff Colyer issued a state of emergency declaration. The action came as a large stretch of Interstate 70, spanning much of the state, was closed between Junction City and WaKeeney.

Separately, a portion of Interstate 29 was shut down in Missouri, near the Iowa border.

By tomorrow, the storm was expected to hit parts of northern Indiana and southern Michigan.

- AP