Major blizzard pummels US Northern Plains, flights canceled

A major blizzard slammed North Dakota on Tuesday with snow, high winds and whiteout conditions, and meteorologists said the spring snowstorm could rage into Thursday, becoming one of the biggest in a quarter century. Bismarck Airport canceled all flights for the day. State offices closed at 12:30 p.m. local time and residents were urged to stay off roads due to treacherous conditions. "Its definitely looking like its going to pack a punch," Rick Krolak of the National Weather Service office in Bismarck said of the storm, which began blowing snow across the city early on Tuesday morning. "We started seeing snow in Bismarck at 4 a.m., winds kicking up causing whiteout conditions," Krolak said. Two feet of snow were predicted across much of the state. Northern cities such as Minot could see up to 30 inches by Thursday, when the weather system was expected to move northeast and out of the region. Krolak said the storm brought to mind the blizzard of 1997 that hit on April 4 of that year, dumping up to two feet of snow in some areas, knocking out power to thousands of residents and leaving motorists stranded on major highways.<br/>