Fierce winter storm hits Midwest with snow, wind

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The storm that has left a left a blanket of mud, ice and snow across much of the nation is blamed for at least five deaths.

It has hammered more than a dozen states with a wintry mix and vicious winds that are threatening to create big snow drifts in parts of the Upper Midwest.

In rural New York near the Great Lakes, more than 3 feet of snow is expected by the week's end.

Hundreds of flights have been canceled at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago; all departures were canceled out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and only a few were scheduled at Des Moines International Airport.

Subzero temperatures caused a scene out of the movie "A Christmas Story," when a boy got his tongue stuck to a metal fence pole. Firefighters in Boise, Idaho, used a glass of warm water to free the boy.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)