Dec. 9, 2009

A strong winter storm blasted much of the United States on Wednesday, bringing blizzard conditions to some areas and rain and high winds to others.

Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled, leaving travelers stranded.

A 28-year-old woman was killed in Omaha, Nebraska, Tuesday night when a truck plowing snow in a parking lot backed into her, police spokesman Jacob Bettin said.

In Nashville, Tennessee, early-morning winds -- possibly up to 50 mph -- toppled the Christmas tree at the Tennessee State Capitol, said CNN affiliate WKRN-TV.

"Capitol facilities supervisor Kenny Crowson said one of his employees called him around 4 a.m. and told him the tree had fallen," the station said on its Web site. Crowson said the tree had been secured with hooks in concrete.

An Arctic high pressure system or air mass began moving southward from Canada on Wednesday, bringing with it frigid temperatures.

The temperature in Portland, Oregon, was 12 degrees, breaking the previous record of 15 degrees, set in 1972, said Jonathan Wolfe, meteorologist with the weather service's Portland bureau.

Hundreds of motorists were stranded overnight Tuesday and Wednesday along Interstate 80 in Iowa, Courtney Greene, a spokeswoman with the Iowa Department of Transportation, told CNN affiliate KCCI-TV. Many have been rescued by police or National Guard soldiers, but dozens remain stranded and are waiting amid 10-foot drifts for help to arrive, Greene said.

See KCCI-TV's local coverage

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for parts of several Midwestern states for Wednesday, saying that places such as North Dakota and Minnesota could get dangerous wind chill readings of 25 to 35 degrees below zero. By Wednesday afternoon the temperature in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was nine degrees. It was minus two degrees in Denver, Colorado; and 11 in Kansas City, Missouri.

By 9 a.m. Wednesday, Madison, Wisconsin, had received 17 inches of snow, prompting the University of Wisconsin to cancel classes, according to CNN affiliate WISC-TV. Schools were closed across Iowa and Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.

"I wouldn't advise anyone being out in this stuff now," truck driver Bill Hyde told CNN affiliate WISN-TV.

See WISN's coverage

The storm prodded Nicole Stec of Janesville, Wisconsin, to finally buy those new tires for her car.

"I'm a procrastinator, so I put it off for a while. But now it's time because there's snow on the ground," Stec told WISC-TV at a Janesville tire shop. "It's my Christmas present from Santa, apparently."

Watch snow blow outside a hotel in Wisconsin

Des Moines, Iowa, had received more than a foot of snow, with more to come, and Freeport, Illinois, had 11 inches.

Watch drivers struggle in Iowa

Passengers heading to cities in snowbound states were left waiting in airports.

Travelers at New Jersey's Newark International Airport and Teterboro Airport were experiencing delays of close to two hours. La Guardia Airport in New York was experiencing delays of about two hours, 20 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Snow and sleet fell on Chicago, Illinois, canceling more than 325 flights Tuesday at O'Hare International Airport, according to a spokesman for Chicago's Department of Aviation. No delays were reported at O'Hare on Wednesday.

New England also was expected to get dangerously low temperatures and heavy snow in some parts Wednesday. Areas in Maine were expected to get as much as 10 inches, the weather service said.

Connecticut's Department of Transportation deployed all of its 632 trucks to clear roads of snow that prompted numerous school closings Wednesday morning, CNN affiliate WFSB-TV reported.

Watch iReporters' shots of the storm

The storm left its mark on the West on Monday and Tuesday.

Alpine Meadows, California, near Lake Tahoe received 42 inches of snow before the storm moved out of the region Tuesday afternoon. Pagosa Springs, Colorado, received 33 inches, and Flagstaff, Arizona, got 30, with similar amounts throughout the Rockies.

The storm brought high winds to the Southwest. Guadalupe Bowl, Texas, recorded a wind gust of 105 mph, and gusts of 78 mph were observed in Chino Valley, Arizona, and Maljamar, New Mexico.

Andres Rodriguez of El Paso, Texas, told CNN affiliate KFOX-TV that he went to check on his mother in Montana Vista after he heard that flying debris from a mobile home had just missed hitting her.

"She was walking by here and she almost got hit by a wall because of the wind. Everything is falling apart," Rodriguez said.

How is the weather where you are? Send an iReport

Heavy rain fell across the South.

There was flash flooding in north-central Alabama. Rescuers ended up in a tree early Wednesday when their boat overturned as they tried to help a motorist whose car was swept into a rain-swollen creek, an official said.

"The people were all right," said Rita Weeks, the administrative assistant for Morgan County's Emergency Management Agency. "They waited in the tree until people could come get them."

That didn't take long, she said, because other rescuers were nearby.

Earlier Wednesday, in the same county, a man hung on to a bridge over a creek after his vehicle was swept away by flood waters, Weeks said. Both incidents took place about 1 a.m.

Forecasters said the area got more than 3 inches of rain, but it had stopped by Wednesday morning.

New Iberia, Louisiana, reported 6.7 inches.

Floodwater damaged a dozen homes in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, CNN affiliate WDSU-TV reported.

"It was terrible. When I looked out the window this morning, I seen my car was underneath the water and I was afraid," said Anita Jones of Mount Airy.

Heavy thunderstorms downed trees and power lines and overturned a mobile home in Greenwood County, South Carolina, CNN affiliate WYFF-TV reported.

CNN's Larry Frum and Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report.

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