A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path has brought a mix of rain and snow to the central US

The storm forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights, while officials closed schools and urged residents to stay off roads.

The blast of cold weather put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings.

Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan all saw freezing rain, sleet and snow.

By midday on Wednesday, some places had already reported snow totals exceeding or nearing a foot.

“And it’s still snowing across these areas,” said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

Central Illinois and northern Indiana appeared likely to receive the most snowfall, with expected totals ranging from 12 to 18 inches by the end of Thursday, Mr Orrison said.

Snow had begun to taper off in Missouri by early afternoon but much of the state could wind up with eight inches to a foot of snow. Parts of Michigan also could see snow totals around a foot by Thursday.

For those on the roads, the heavy snow created hazardous conditions.

“We’re receiving a lot of snow over here in northwest Indiana and it’s the wet, slushy snow that causes treacherous driving conditions to say the least,” said Indiana State Police Sgt Glen Fifield.

In central Missouri, officials shut down part of Interstate 70 after a crash made the roadway impassable.

Areas south of the heavy snow were expected to see freezing rain, with the heaviest ice predicted along the lower Ohio Valley area from Louisville in Kentucky to Memphis, Tennessee.

“If everything holds to where it is right now, this is the real deal,” said Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, who ordered state government offices to close on Thursday. “It is dangerous. People need to be prepared.”

The disruptive storm moved across the central US on Groundhog Day, the same day the famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.

The storm’s path extended as far south as Texas, nearly a year after a catastrophic freeze hit the state’s power grid in one of the worst blackouts in US history.

Airlines cancelled nearly 8,000 flights in the US scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday, the flight-tracking service FlightAware.com showed.

Airports in St Louis, Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit cancelled more flights than usual. Almost 700 flights were cancelled on Thursday alone at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and more than 300 were cancelled at nearby Dallas Love Field.