Much of the nation is dealing with a big blast of winter as a massive snowstorm barrels from the Rockies to the Midwest, with some parts of Colorado buried under more than a foot of snow. NBC's Mike Seidel reports.
By NBC News staff and wire services
Updated at 10 a.m. ET: A major snowstorm sweeping across the central U.S. on Thursday brought blizzard warnings and dumped around a foot of snow on parts of the Central Plains.
The southern end of the storm front produced high winds overnight that cut power to more than 350,000 customers and caused damage in Mobile, Ala., possibly by a twister.?Tornado warnings remained in effect in parts of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama early Thursday.
At least three deaths were tied to the storm front.?In Wisconsin, slick road conditions led to two fatalities. And in Utah, a woman who tried to walk for help after her car became stuck in snow died Tuesday night, officials said late Wednesday. Search and rescue crews on snowmobiles found her buried in the snow just a few miles from her car.
On Thursday, the storm front will make travel "very difficult or impossible" across "a wide swath of the Plains and Upper Midwest,"?The Weather Channel reported, disrupting flights at?O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, the nation's second-busiest.
Blizzard or winter storm warnings have been issued for 16 states, meteorologist Mike Seidel told TODAY.?
Snow warnings have also intensified, with Des Moines, Iowa, seeing nearly a foot by early Thursday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Dergan said the snow cover would drag temperatures much lower in Nebraska and Iowa.
"We're talking single digits," Dergan said. "We may even see some sub-zero temperatures in Nebraska. This cold weather will stick around for several days, maybe until the day after Christmas. So we're definitely going to have a white Christmas."
In Chicago, up to 4 inches is forecast at O'Hare airport, Weather Channel forecaster Brian Fortier told NBC News, including the possibility of a heavy snow shower there Thursday evening. Several dozen flights were canceled there Thursday morning, and many more were delayed.
Airlines were letting travelers flying to some Midwest cities change their bookings without fees.
In Alabama, a powerful storm peeled the roofs off buildings and toppled cars and trucks in Mobile, but injured no one, Al.com reported. Arkansas also saw damage from high winds.
Dietra Tate / NBC 15
This vehicle at a car dealership was flipped over by a storm in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, Dec. 20.
The storm earlier delivered heavy snow and strong winds to parts of the West, where trucks tangled on icy roads on the Oregon and California state line. In West Texas, winds from the same system kicked up a dust storm that caused a series of accidents along Interstate 27, resulting in one death and more than a dozen injuries, NBC affiliate KCBD reported.
As snow blew sideways in Nebraska on Wednesday night, the Nebraska State Patrol closed parts of Interstate 80, a major east-west highway.?
In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. Schools were canceled in advance of heavy snowfall and the University of Wisconsin-Madison postponed Thursday?s final exams.
Full coverage of the storm at The Weather Channel
Brennan Linsley / AP
Snow-bound traffic ground to a halt in Superior, Colo., on Wednesday.
Before the storm, several cities in the Midwest had broken records for the number of consecutive days without measurable snow.
In Chicago, people were making a run on snow shovels and salt ahead of what would be the first snow to hit the city in 290 days (the record is 296). The Home Depot in Lincoln Park sold 50 shovels by 1 p.m.,?NBCChicago.com reported.
"It's Chicago, anything can happen," resident Louis Collazo said. "I'm ready for it. Bring it on."
The storm has package delivery companies nervously checking the weather forecast during this busy time of year. "We?re closely monitoring the storm,"?FedEx spokesman Scott Fiedler told NBC News. "We have a team of 15 meteorologists who track the weather around the world every day."
Related: Bad in US? Try Russia, where some parts as low as 50 below
Related: Slideshow of wintry scenes around the world
After blowing through the Midwest, the storm will move on to the East Coast in the form of wind and rain, according to The Weather Channel.
NBC News' Isolde Raftery and A. Pawlowski, as well as The Associated Press and Reuters, contributed to this report.
NBC's Janet Shamlian reports on the busiest delivery day of the year for UPS, which is prepped to make 28 million deliveries by the end of the business day ahead of the threatening holiday storm.
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