(Reuters) - A winter storm bringing icy rain to the Great Plains and Midwest claimed the life of a Missouri woman on Friday, prompted the delay of an NFL football game and threatened power outages and treacherous conditions throughout the weekend. “The best thing to do when it’s icy is stay home,” the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said, adding that those who do venture out should heed the advice: “Ice and snow, take it slow.” You have to slow your speed down.”

Hundreds of schools were closed, including several college campuses. The National Weather Service Office in Kansas City, Missouri said there was potential for a “long duration winter storm as precipitation in the form of freezing rain impacts the lower Missouri Valley. Ice, freezing rain and winter storm warnings were in effect from the Texas panhandle north into Iowa and east through central Indiana, the Weather Service said in an advisory, and both Missouri and Oklahoma had declared states of emergency. Missouri Department of Transportation crews were working 12-hour shifts to treat roads and highways, though as some of the freezing rain melted, it washed the chemicals away, said Linda Wilson Horn, a spokeswoman for MoDOT. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tiffany Jackson, 33, died Friday morning when her Chevy Trailblazer slid on an icy overpass on Interstate 55 near Festus, south of St. Louis, and struck several trees.
A winter storm pours ice rain on the Great Plains and American Midwest, causes power outages, school closures, and a traffic fatality in Missouri.