A severe winter storm of ice and snow hit many parts of the United States in the past week, causing highway closures, flight delays, massive blackouts and at least one death.

The storm affected northeastern United States in the beginning of last week, but it was the Midwest, North and Southwest's turn later in the week.

The east coast is expected to get hit again later Sunday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said on Sunday.

Conditions were so bad in Minnesota that the state's transportation department ordered plows off the road in 13 counties.

In neighboring Iowa, there were so many car accidents caused by poor visibility that state officials prohibited towing services and advised against traveling on parts of Interstate 35.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer quoted one Washington state trooper as saying that he felt wind gusts as high as 120 km per hour, which were causing complete whiteout conditions. The trooper told a reporter that he had never seen conditions so bad.

Parts of the Northwest have had up to 91.44 cm of snow over last weekend.

The storm, which entered from the Pacific Ocean, is moving east where people are still recovering from a previous storm that left hundreds of thousands without power in the beginning of the week.

A large snow storm is expected to hit parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Sunday.

These states are already digging out from a Friday storm, and forecasters are warning that Sunday's storm could be worse.

The past week's weather has also been a hassle for air travelers.

About 50 flights were canceled last Saturday at the three major airports in New York, and 47 flights were canceled at the Seattle- Tacoma International airport.

Drivers across the country were warned to stay off roads and hunker down indoors as night falls, bringing more heavy snow and blizzard conditions in parts of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2008)