First U.S. winter storm of 2023 brings snow, sleet and tornado threat

FILE PHOTO: A woman and the Chicago skyline are reflected in the snow covered, curved surface of the "Cloud Gate" sculpture in Chicago, Illinois, January 6, 2015. A REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

(Reuters) -The first major U.S. winter storm system of the year dumped a frosty mix of snow, freezing rain and sleet from the Northern Plains to the Upper Great Lakes region on Tuesday while posing a tornado and flood threat to a large swath of the South.

The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast intense snowfall of 1 to 3 inches (2-1/2 to 7-1/2 cm) per hour in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota on Tuesday, accompanied at times by thunder, with more than a foot of snow expected to accumulate.