Deadly winter storm pushes into Northeast after slamming Midwest with heavy snow, ice

A powerful and deadly winter storm that slammed the Plains and Midwest on Wednesday has pushed into the Northeast and New England, where it’s dumping a wintry mess of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain that will lead to slow travel on area roads and highways Thursday morning.This latest storm system also brought rounds of severe weather to the South, where at least one tornado was spotted amid a slew of Tornado Warnings that were issued across the region on Wednesday.The storm is now in its final act and will exit the Northeast later Thursday, but the FOX Forecast Center is continuing to monitor a weekend storm system that will bring a renewed risk of severe weather in the South and winter weather in the Northeast.The winter storm in the Northeast is promising to bring some tricky travel to the region for the Thursday morning commute, and officials have urged drivers to keep it slow on the roads or just stay home until conditions improve, if possible.Crews have been out in full force across the region, both pretreating roads ahead of the storm and working to remove snow and ice from roads and highways.Schools in several states have announced that they will either open late to give crews more time to work on the roads or will remain closed on Thursday.Winter weather alerts remain in effect from Pennsylvania to Maine, including Winter Weather Advisories for cities like Hartford, Connecticut; Worcester, Massachusetts; Concord, New Hampshire; Montpelier, Vermont; and Portland, Maine.A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for portions of northern Maine until late Thursday night.As the storm was gaining strength while it moved across the central U.S., snowfall rates of up to an inch per hour produced several inches of snow accumulations along its path, including 2-3 inches of snow in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Please pr...