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inches of snow. The storm stretched from South Texas, where anxious residents bagged outdoor plants to protect them from the cold, up into northern New England and the Canadian Maritimes.
• Cold weather has already dumped 1 to 2 feet of snow in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin and draped many communities in skin-stinging cold. The temperature in parts of North Dakota on Thursday was a few degrees below zero, but wind chill pushed it to nearly 40 below.
• In West Texas, many truckers had already pulled off Interstate 27 on Thursday, said Leilani Pierce, a manager at a Flying J Travel Plaza in Lubbock.
• Students at Oklahoma State University were evicted by school officials from a makeshift tent community they set up ahead of Saturday's rivalry football game against the University of Oklahoma. Debbie McCarthy, the university's athletics coordinator of special events, told the Tulsa World that officials were worried about propane heaters starting a fire.
• The city of St. Louis opened its first cold-weather shelter of the season and warned residents to dress in layers inside and outside if need be.
• A winter storm system swept through the Plains Thursday and dumped 1 to 2 feet of snow in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It forced cancellations in places far more accustomed to snow: Officials in Rapid City, S.D., said the weather was too cold for ice skating, and temperatures in Montana and Idaho fell below minus 25 degrees.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Gov. Dennis Daugaard is asking that all flags in South Dakota be flown at half-staff in memory of Nelson Mandela.
• The former South African president died Thursday at the age of 95. Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing apartheid and helped dismantle the country's legacy of institutionalized racism. He was an inspiration for many around the world.
• Daugaard's request is in accordance with a proclamation by President Barack Obama. Flags should be flown at half-staff until sunset Monday.
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