Winter storm wallops Midwest and South with blizzards and tornadoes

A destructive winter storm marched across parts of the U.S. on Wednesday, delivering blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains hours after tornadoes touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, where a child was killed and his mother remains missing.

Five tornadoes were confirmed across north Texas as of Tuesday afternoon based on video and eyewitness reports, but potentially a dozen may have occurred, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth reported.

Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged by the thunderstorms, and several people were injured in the suburbs and counties north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports were delayed, and more than 100 were canceled, according to the tracking service FlightAware.

A young boy was found dead in a wooded area of Pecan Farms where his home was destroyed Tuesday after a tornado hit Four Forts, La., about 10 miles from Shreveport, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said in a statement.

“It’s really a sad, sad situation,” Prator said. Search efforts for the child’s mother will continue Wednesday.

One more injury was reported after an adult male was taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries is unknown.

The severe weather threat continued into Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

Blizzard warnings stretched from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado, and the National Weather Service said as much as two feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Winds of more than 50 mph at times will make it impossible to see outdoors in Nebraska, officials said.

“There’s essentially no one traveling right now,” said Justin McCallum, a manager at the Flying J truck stop at Ogallala, Neb.

Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the Northeast and central Appalachians. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch out for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.

In the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, police spokesperson Amanda McNew reported five confirmed injuries Tuesday.

A possible tornado blew the roof off the city’s service center — a municipal facility — and left pieces of the roof hanging from power lines, said Trent Kelley, deputy director of Grapevine Parks and Recreation.

In Colorado, all roads were closed in the northeast quadrant of the state. The severe weather in the ranching region could also threaten livestock. Extreme winds can push livestock through fences as they follow the gale’s direction, said Jim Santomaso, a northeast representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Assn.

“If this keeps up,” said Santomaso, “cattle could drift miles.”

A blizzard warning has been issued on Minnesota’s north shore, as some areas are expecting up to two feet of snow and wind gusts of up to 40 mph. And in the south of the state, winds gusting up to 50 mph had reduced visibility.

National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye in the Twin Cities said this is a “long-duration event” with snow, ice and rain through Friday night. Minnesota was expecting a lull Wednesday, followed by a second round of snow.

The same weather system dumped heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada and western U.S. in recent days.