• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A spring snowstorm in the Upper Midwest shut down schools and government offices, canceled flights and closed main roads and interstates Monday, while making life miserable for cattle ranchers in the midst of calving season.
• The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for much of the Dakotas and part of Minnesota, with the storm expected to linger through Monday night in some areas. Eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota could see the most snow, up to 20 inches.
• The South Dakota Department of Transportation closed a section of Interstate 90 from Ellsworth Air Force Base to Wall. Officials said white-out conditions with zero to near-zero visibility, icy roads, drifting snow, as well as multiple accidents made safe travel almost impossible in some areas.
• According to the National Weather Service in Rapid City, accumulations ranging from 1.5 to up to 7 inches were reported in the western part of the state. But the wind, not necessarily the snow, created the hazardous driving conditions.
• "The big story was the strong wind that we had with the snow," said meteorologist Eric Helgeson. "We had wind gusts of 60 miles an hour, and that extended over most of northwestern South Dakota, including Rapid City."
• Drifting snow reduced visibilities for motorists to less than a quarter of a mile early in the morning and into the early afternoon. But motorists faced even more difficult conditions in eastern North Dakota, where the weather service reported visibilities of about 300 feet Monday evening in Grand Forks.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base in northeastern North Dakota required only essential personnel to report for duty Monday. North Dakota officials closed all lanes of I-29 from Grand Forks to the Canadian border around 3 p.m. All lanes of I-94 from Bismarck to Fargo were also closed and so were the lanes of U.S. Highway 2 from

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