Spring storm lashes central US with snow and threatens South with severe weather

By JIM SALTER and WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

A major spring storm is hitting parts of the central United States with heavy snow, rain and high winds. Forecasters say tornadoes could form in the South. Monday’s storm is bringing extreme weather conditions to a broad swath from the Dakotas to the Gulf Coast. Other parts of the country are recovering from their own severe weather. It ranged from hail and flooding in California to heavy snow, freezing rain and flooding in the Northeast. A storm coated parts of Maine in ice as thick as three-quarters of an inch, and thousands remained without power there.