Winter storm socks Midwest; Valley could get 5 inches of snow by Monday

March 24, 2013 at 2:21p.m.

Staff and wire reports

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Few signs of spring are being found in parts of the Midwest as a snowstorm tracks mostly along Interstate 70, bringing heavy snow and high winds.

The Mahoning Valley is expected to get 2 to 3 inches of snow tonight and an additional 1 to 2 inches Monday morning.

The National Weather Service said parts of Colorado and northwest Kansas saw 10 to 15 inches of snow Saturday, and southwestern Nebraska had up to 7 inches. Winds gusting at speeds of up to 45 mph created snow drifts of 2 to 3 feet in the three states, said Ryan Husted, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Goodland, Kan.

“We have pretty much cleared out. Sunny skies. It’s starting to melt a little bit,” Husted said Sunday.

But points eastward weren’t as lucky as the system moved on. Winter storm warnings and advisories have been issued for Sunday and Monday as far east as Pennsylvania.

The storm dumped 7 to 9 inches of snow from eastern Kansas into central Missouri before tapering off Sunday morning, Dan Hawblitzel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in suburban Kansas City, said.

College basketball fans in Kansas City had little to worry about though, as the snow didn’t affect the NCAA men’s tournament schedule.

“It’s no distraction, unless the roof goes off, we’ll still be able to play and the whole bit like that,” said North Carolina coach Roy Williams, whose team plays Kansas early Sunday evening.

Snow began to fall in earnest in St. Louis and western Illinois on Sunday morning. St. Louis is forecast to see accumulations of 8 to 10 inches and Illinois 6 to 9 inches, Hawblitzel said. The storm also was brushing northern Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Forecasters predict that the storm will arrive in Indiana late Sunday afternoon and into night, dumping 6 to 10 inches of snow. The system then will move into Ohio on Sunday night, bringing between 5 to 9 inches, Hawblitzel said.

The storm is expected to weaken as it moves into Pennsylvania late Sunday and into Monday, with totals ranging from 3 to 8 inches. Before it exits off the coast of New Jersey on Monday night, the storm could leave 1 to 3 inches in southern New York and New Jersey.

“It’s definitely a wide-hitting system,” Hawblitzel said.