Major storm system sweeps across Midwest

A storm system that dropped a foot of snow in the Rockies was making travel hazardous as it headed east on Wednesday, menacing the Plains with heavy snow and threatening turbulent weather -- even tornadoes -- in parts of the Midwest. CBS Denver reports the area experienced a typical Colorado weather phenomenon: Within 12 hours on Tuesday, Denver went from a high temperature of 67°F to snow. The system was expected to affect more than 36.5 million people from Colorado through Ohio and from Texas north through Michigan. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches for most of the day in parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. The storm dropped up to about 5 inches in parts of the Denver area on Wednesday, and Colorado highway patrol troopers reported several crashes north of the city on windy, icy Interstate 25 near the Wyoming border before the sun came out. Wyoming authorities also shut down large sections of roadways. The Nebraska State Patrol reported several minor accidents involving vehicles sliding off icy or slushy roadways, but no injuries have been reported. Alan Salyards said truckers coming through his Flying J Travel Plaza near Big Springs, a Nebraska town along the Colorado boarder, didn't seem especially concerned. He said plow trucks were working all morning to keep the roads passable. "The drivers are just doing their normal thing," he said. At Denver International Airport, spokesman Heath Montgomery said airlines canceled about 50 flights in anticipation of the bad weather -- out of the airport's 1,500 daily flights -- and ground crews kept up with the snowfall. No major delays were reported.