Early snowstorm spreads chaos

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – An early winter storm that dumped more than 6 inches of snow on Central Park spread chaos and misery from the Midwest to New England to the Deep South, caused at least seven deaths and triggered a New York-area commuter nightmare with jammed roadways, fuming travelers and buses stalled for lack of snow tires.

At one point, the National Weather Service had issued winter storm warnings from western North Carolina to northern Maine.

In New York, snowplows and salt trucks were hampered in trying to deal with the onslaught due to crushing gridlock on highways and local roads.

The wintry weather could linger in New England on Saturday.

The St. Louis area had as much 8 inches of snow, parts of suburban Philadelphia got 5 inches, and sections of New Jersey were on target for 8 inches. Parts of southern New England were bracing for up to 6 inches as the storm moved east.

More than a foot of snow fell across portions of the Poconos in Pennsylvania and the Catskill Mountains in New York, and 6 to 10 inches of snow accumulated from western Maryland to northeastern Massachusetts.

Some parts of New Jersey received 6 to 8 inches of snow, making it one of the largest totals ever for a single storm in November.

The early winter blast was blamed for at least seven deaths. In Mississippi on Wednesday, a tour bus bound for a casino overturned, leaving two people dead and 44 others injured. And in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area, three people were killed in separate crashes on icy roads Wednesday night.

Officials in Ohio reported at least one traffic death that was likely weather-related. Indiana State Police also reported a death early Thursday, which they said was caused by a 60-year-old woman driving too fast on a slick road.