MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) — Another punch of snow loomed for the upper Midwest while thunderstorms stretched from the southern Plains to the Northeast on Tuesday, inconveniencing voters in many of the states holding primaries and caucuses.
Snow spread out of Colorado on a path across the upper Midwest, likely to reach the Great Lakes by nightfall.
In warmer air, a narrow line of rain and thunderstorms extended from Oklahoma up the Ohio Valley to New York state.
Tuesday's forecast for Wisconsin ran the gamut from dense fog to a winter storm warning in effect for parts of the state through Wednesday afternoon.
"We're expecting for the Milwaukee area anywhere between 9 and 11 inches," said J.J. Wood, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said up to 10 inches was expected in a swath from southwest Wisconsin through the Madison area up toward Port Washington.
Several inches of snow fell in central and northern Wisconsin Monday, canceling some high school basketball and hockey games and other events. The snow also triggered a rash of traffic accidents in some areas.
While the north had snow, southeastern Wisconsin had to deal with rain and freezing drizzle that gave sidewalks and streets a mix of slushy water and ice.
So far this winter, Milwaukee has recorded 52.8 inches of snow, just over the normal average of 52.4 inches for the entire season with about a month and a half still to go, Wood said.
That's far short of the record of 109.8 inches set in winter of 1885-86.
Many residents have been saying they've had enough, but not Wood.
"Oh, brother," he said. "It IS February."
It could be much worse. Voters heading to party caucuses in Alaska faced lows of 50 degrees below zero, with more than a foot of new snow in Juneau, the state's capital.
On Tuesday, thick fog covered much of Illinois, closing Chicago's Midway Airport for much of the day and canceling hundreds of flights at O'Hare International Airport. Snow and sleet were expected Tuesday.
In California, two skiers who disappeared near Lake Tahoe during a weekend storm were rescued Monday. In Southern California, a 53-year-old hiker was found Monday on Mount San Jacinto a day after she was reported missing during the storm.