WASHINGTON--A pre-winter storm blamed for seven deaths moved slowly across the Midwest, Appalachian mountains and into the East Coast on Thursday, leaving a trail of closed schools, traffic headaches and power outages across much of the country.

Outages were reported throughout the snow's path. As of early Friday, roughly 300,000 customers were without power, mostly in Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, according to poweroutage.us.

Utility companies blamed a combination of the wet snow, heavy winds and the early-season timing of the storm, with trees still clinging to their leaves in the late fall, for the falling branches.

New Jersey's largest city, Newark, was among the metropolitan areas blitzed by the storm. A ground stop was in place briefly at the city's international airport early Friday morning following a day in which 400 flights were cancelled. A ground stop was also briefly in place at Boston Logan Airport on Thursday night.

In Mississippi on Wednesday, a tour bus bound for a casino overturned, leaving two people dead and 44 others injured. And in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area, three people were killed in separate crashes on icy roads Wednesday night.

Officials in Ohio reported at least one traffic death that was likely weather-related. Indiana State Police also reported a death early Thursday, which they said was caused by the 60-year-old woman driving too fast on a slick road.

In Philadelphia, a meteorologist told the Allentown Morning Call that this storm is “an overperformer.” By 3 p.m. Thursday, parts of suburban Philadelphia had 5 inches of snow. The freezing rain turned to ice on roads around the state, leading to a number of crashes and reports of cars sliding off roads.

Up to 7 inches of snow fell in the St. Louis area on Thursday, with more continuing to fall, the weather service said. The all-time record snowfall for a single November day in St. Louis is 7.6 inches, so that mark is in jeopardy.

The weather service issued winter storm warnings from western North Carolina to northern Maine, a distance of almost 1,000 miles.

Less severe winter weather advisories were also in effect from the central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic. Overall, about 75 million Americans live where wintry weather is possible Thursday into Friday, the National Weather Service said.

Also, in Virginia, NASA said the planned launch early Thursday of an unmanned cargo rocket to the International Space Station had to be rescheduled until Saturday because of the weather. (Source: USA Today)

Story Date: November 18, 2018