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'Life-Threatening' Winter Storm Strikes Central US

     24 December 2009
   A  bobcat  clears snow in preparation for Christmas Eve services atThe
   House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minn., 24 Dec 2009

Photo: AP

   A  bobcat  clears snow in preparation for Christmas Eve services atThe
   House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minn., 24 Dec 2009

   A  massive winter storm is barreling across the central United States,
   causing  mayhem  on  the roads and threatening to ruin many Americans'
   Christmas holiday plans.
   The  storm  stretches  as  far  north as Minnesota, along the Canadian
   border, to Texas in the south.
   Freezing  rain,  snow  and  heavy  winds are making driving conditions
   extremely dangerous in some states.
   The  National  Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning to remain
   in  effect  for  many  areas  until  Saturday,  predicting  up  to  30
   centimeters  of  snow  in  many  northern  locales.   The warning says
   "life-threatening"   weather  conditions  are  expected  and  strongly
   discourages travel.
   Americans  on  the  east  coast are just recovering from a major storm
   last  week  that  dropped  as  much  as 60 centimeters of snow in some
   areas, and caused widespread power outages.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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