Snowstorms sock upper Midwest

[...]
he storm left more than a foot of snow in some areas Friday. Even as the flakes stopped falling by afternoon, gusts of 40 mph prompted blizzard warnings and prevented major highways from reopening.

Officials at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport canceled 500 flights, blaming bad weather elsewhere.

In the Northeast, a storm dumped snow across northern New England, while areas to the south were left with a messy mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

Hundreds of miles of interstate highway in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota remained closed for much of Friday, with plow drivers forced to pull off roads because of the wind-blown snow.

More than 100 vehicles were abandoned as their stranded drivers were rescued in Iowa, where blizzard warnings were extended into Saturday.

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